The Malibu High School girls’ varsity soccer team lost to Desert Christian on penalty kicks after making a thrilling comeback on Thursday. By reaching the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Division Six Playoffs, the Sharks (17-5 with three ties) advanced farther than any girls’ varsity soccer team in school history.
Desert Christian scored the first goal of the game. Shortly after halftime, junior Dakota Gross got tangled-up with a Desert Christian player. The Desert Christian player was given a yellow warning card, but Gross received a red card, and was ejected from the game and could not be replaced by a substitute. Things looked even bleaker for the Sharks when Desert Christian scored again to increase their lead to 2-0. However, “the whole team did not want to give up. We kept going” senior Sonja Van Solen said.
The momentum shifted when Desert Christian committed a tough foul on junior Kelcie Meyer. Malibu was rewarded a penalty shot, which junior Caysie Beetley converted to cut the deficit to 2-1. With just seconds left in the game, junior Claire Haft beat a Desert Christian defender to a loose ball, and scored a goal to tie the game at two.
“I just charged the ball,” Haft said about her game-tying goal. “I did not know what was going to happen. I just went for the ball, and fortunately I got it.”
In overtime, goaltender Sonja Van Solen held Desert Christian scoreless, which sent the game into a best-of-five penalty shootout. Caysie Beetley and Gigi Wooller both scored to give the Sharks a quick 2-0 advantage in the penalty shootout. However, the Sharks missed their next three shots, while Desert Christian made their last three shots, giving Desert Christian a 3-2 shootout win.
“I am on cloud nine just to have come back from two goals down,” junior Samantha Holst said. “It feels like we are the winning team even though we lost in penalty kicks. I am really proud of everyone.”
“The girls stepped up,” coach Lloyd Kinnear said of the team’s game. “They showed character. We came to play today.”
The game was the last for seniors Van Solen, Rebecca Gray, Mariah Downing and Jamie Samuel.
The Sharks advanced to the quarterfinals of the CIF playoffs by defeating Linfield Christian, 3-0, in the second round on Tuesday in Temecula. Dakota Gross led the Sharks with two goals, and Caysie Beetley also scored.