Girls soccer: Tars stun Monarchs, 2-0

Steve Virgen

SANTA ANA - Look out Corona del Mar High, the Newport Harbor girls

soccer team is for real and those Sailors are fearless.

Newport, which will play at Back Bay rival CdM Saturday at 1 p.m.,

stunned host Mater Dei with a 2-1 nonleague win Thursday.

The Sailors (6-5-1), winners of five of their past six, didn’t

dominate the Monarchs (10-3-3), but controlled the tempo, outshooting

Mater Dei, 13-4, 8-2 in the first half.

Newport Harbor avenged a 4-0 loss to the Monarchs, Dec. 1 at the Mater

Dei Tournament.

“We got beat by (Mater Dei) 4-0 at the beginning of the season,”

Newport Coach Jason Sorrell said. “They are a very good team. So, we beat

a team that (was 10-2-3) and in that aspect it’s a great win for us. This

is a great confidence-booster for us this Saturday.”

Junior Amy Burlingham was responsible for both goals, putting Newport

ahead, 1-0, five minutes before halftime. She split two defenders near

midfield and outraced them toward Mater Dei’s goal to set up a one-on-one

breakaway that she easily finished.

Two minutes into the second half, Burlingham took a lead pass from

senior Amy Ross for a breakaway and struck a shot that bounced off the

goalkeeper’s hands. Junior Kate Younglove, who injured her ankle in the

first half but battled back, was there for the rebound and booted the

ball into an empty net for a 2-0 lead.

Mater Dei answered one minute later when senior Tami Fipps’ header

from a corner kick gave the Monarchs new life. But the Sailors’ defense

stuffed Mater Dei the rest of the way.

Seniors Kristin Nahin and Lauren Birchfield, along with junior Taryn

Flamson and freshman Erin Hardy patrolled the back, at times frustrating

the Monarchs. Meanwhile, sophomore goalkeeper Kara DeMille was

opportunistic, finishing with three saves, including a crucial stoppage

in the 65th minute.

“That last game, we sat back a bit and didn’t challenge (Mater Dei),”

Sorrell said. “This game we were a little more aggressive and we were

getting to the ball.”Apparently, Mater Dei Coach Austin Sharp was not

thoroughly impressed with the Sailors.

“We’ll always give credit where credit is due, but (Newport) beat us

on two mistakes that we made,” Sharp said. “Are they the better team? No.

But we made our own mistakes and they buried it and that’s a sign of a

winner. They are certainly playing with more confidence.”