Huntington Beach girls’ soccer, still undefeated, earns big win over Edison

The Huntington Beach High girls’ soccer team has not won a Sunset League title in a decade, but a talented Oilers squad is trying to flip that script this season.

Huntington Beach took a step toward that goal Thursday night. And the fact that step was taken against crosstown rival Edison made it even sweeter for the hosts.

Seniors Bailey Oliver and Alicia Katter each scored as the Oilers earned a 2-1 Sunset League win over the Chargers, clinching the top seed in the Sunset League tournament with a match to play.

The match marked the end of the high school career of Huntington Beach senior captain Solana Van Enoo, who received hugs from her teammates both before play began and after the final whistle. Van Enoo is graduating early and heading north to play at Santa Clara University.

“It’s so bittersweet to say goodbye, because this is the best group of girls I’ve ever played with, just from skill level to the friendships I’ve made,” Van Enoo said. “We’ve all been through so much over the past four years. To get this win and get one step closer to getting the Sunset League for the first time in 10 years, it’s so exciting and it just means everything to me.”

First-place Huntington Beach, still undefeated, improved to 12-0-4 overall and 5-0 in league. Edison, which was also undefeated in league headed into the first-place showdown, is now 8-7-2 overall and 4-1 in league.

Van Enoo played a key role in Huntington Beach’s first goal five minutes into the contest. The Oilers were seemingly called offside in the Chargers’ end of the field, with the assistant referee raising his flag.

However, the ball went straight to Edison senior goalkeeper Tatum Trout, and the center referee elected not to call the offside since the Chargers had the ball. The whistle was not blown, but players from both teams appeared to think the offside had been called and Edison had a free kick.

Trout threw the ball in front of her to set that up, but it was in fact a live ball.

“There was never a whistle and the keeper played it, and we just took advantage of the mistake,” Oilers coach Raul Ruiz said. “It’s hard to tell, but there was no whistle and we took advantage of it.”

Van Enoo took the ball and her shot banged off the crossbar. Oliver, who is bound for Southern Illinois, was there for a rebound header goal at the far post.

Edison equalized in the 20th minute on a beautiful free kick from sophomore center back Jaylen Maroney. The blast from the right, from about 35 yards out, went cross-cage and banged off the inside of the left goalpost and into the net.

“She’s physically a very, very strong athlete,” Chargers coach Kerry Crooks said. “That’s what she really wants to do, score on free kicks. She hasn’t had much success all season on it, but today she did. We talked a bit and I’m like, ‘Jaylen, aim for the top crossbar,’ because she usually hits it really high over. Today, she felt it, and now it’s in her. Hopefully there will be more of that.”

But Huntington Beach would retake the lead in the 32nd minute, when Oliver quickly played the ball ahead to Katter at the edge of the box. Trout charged out, with Katter poking it past her for the Oilers’ second goal.

“Solana and Alicia were both making runs in opposite directions, and I just kind of did what I felt best in the moment,” Oliver said. “I saw which way their defense was shifting. We had played Solana many times down that side, so I think they were almost expecting that run, and I decided to go the opposite way. Alicia had a crazy touch and finish that secured that second goal for us.”

The lead held up in the second half despite some tenuous moments. Edison sophomore Marissa Devine, who leads the Chargers with nine goals, got a couple of good looks at the frame. Maroney also had another booming free kick from 55 yards out near the Edison sideline in the 73rd minute, which almost found the upper-right corner on a bounce.

But the Oilers defense, featuring senior captains Kaitlyn Lee and Chloe Siok, juniors Alexis Katter and Kayla Bellmore and sophomore Daisy Quatman, held up in front of sophomore goalkeeper Stella Adler.

The fourth senior captain, Sienna McAthy, also played a key role as a holding midfielder.

“I think everyone put 110%, blood, sweat and tears on the field,” Lee said. “Obviously, unfortunate goal, but we came back and scored another one and we were off from there. I think everyone knew we needed to win, we wanted to win and everyone did what they could to get that.”

Huntington Beach closes out league at Newport Harbor on Tuesday. As the top seed in the league tournament, the Oilers have a first-round bye.

The Sunset League title will be won by the team with the most combined points between league games and tournament games. Oliver said the Oilers seniors are hungry to earn that distinction.

“This team has been together for so long,” she said. “For being such a good, talented group of individuals, we haven’t really gotten that much for our school, besides our Excalibur title that we got a couple of years back. We haven’t gotten any Sunset League [titles], we haven’t gotten that far in CIF. We’ve had a lot of upsets, but I think this year being our last year has made it to where we won’t leave the field without winning. We will leave our all on the field.

Edison closes out league play at home against Los Alamitos on Tuesday. With a victory or a tie, the Chargers would clinch the No. 2 seed in the league tournament.