The562’s coverage of Cabrillo Athletics is sponsored by the Cohn Family
The562’s coverage of Lakewood Athletics is sponsored by J.P. Crawford, Class of 2013
Communication was the name of the game on Thursday night when Lakewood visited Cabrillo for the Moore League girls’ soccer opener.
The Jaguars credited their verbal connection during a solid performance in a scoreless draw, while the Lancers struggled to talk though the strong Cabrillo defense.
“I think my girls were a little hesitant,” Lakewood coach Pole Luna said. “They had to communicate a little bit more. And finishing, that’s our struggle right now, just finishing that last play.”
Lakewood outshot Cabrillo 8-2 while dominating possession, but Jaguars goalkeeper Stephanie Salgado made a couple saves for the clean sheet.
“We haven’t been communicating in recent games and I think (we were good tonight) because we were all communicating throughout,” Salgado said. “Our defense worked up and started talking to the middle because they couldn’t hear me, so I told my defense so they could get the word.”
Cabrillo center back Maralyn Marquez organized the Jaguars in their new formation with a sweeper and an extra midfielder. Marquez had more than a dozen key clearances while Lakewood pushed numbers forward.
“We’re definitely improved this year,” Marquez said. “We’ve learned to communicate better.”
This is the second straight season that Cabrillo has played Lakewood to a scoreless draw. That’s key for the Jaguars because they’ve finished behind the Lancers for years while Lakewood keeps taking fourth place in league.
“We’re growing slowly but showing that growth by competing with Lakewood is great,” Cabrillo coach Rudy Gonzalez said. “I thought the girls fought hard tonight, they really wanted to play. They know they can compete, especially against Lakewood, because we all know it comes down to four spots in the league that get you to CIF.”
Both teams had their best chances to score off long balls forward, but Salgado and Lakewood goalkeeper Valentina Dominguez came off their lines for brave stops.
Allison Honeycutt led Lakewood with a pair of shots, and Sarahi Soto had the only shot on goal for Cabrillo.
Next week, Cabrillo will face Millikan on Tuesday while Lakewood hosts Compton. The Lancers will then host Millikan on Thursday.
