They’re diving in

Marmonte League winter overview: Girls’ soccer


ALL-OUT EFFORT—Calabasas High’s Taylor Hobson, right, attempts to steal the ball from Monique Pendleberry during Monday’s Marmonte League opener for both teams. The match was a 0-0 tie.

ALL-OUT EFFORT—Calabasas High’s Taylor Hobson, right, attempts to steal the ball from Monique Pendleberry during Monday’s Marmonte League opener for both teams. The match was a 0-0 tie.

The Marmonte League is an unforgiving beast.

There are 14 league games. Teams will play three outings during one hellacious five-day stretch.

Local high school girls’ soccer teams will try to maneuver the gauntlet by staying healthy and mentally tough.

“Anybody in our league can beat anybody at any given time,” Simi Valley head coach Mark Johnson said. “This league has so much parity.”

Despite finishing under .500 overall, Royal earned a share of the league crown with Westlake in 2009-10. The Highlanders and Warriors are expected to duke it out again.

Calabasas, which ended last season on a tear, is a dark horse to win the Marmonte.

Simi Valley, Moorpark and Newbury Park show a lot of promise. Thousand Oaks has a talented young core while Agoura hopes to catapult into the playoffs with experienced veterans.

Here’s a closer look at the eight teams:

Agoura Chargers

The Chargers have a solid group of upperclassmen.

Head coach Michael Skene hopes experience will materialize into victories.

“I’m expecting major improvement over last year’s record,” said Skene, now in his ninth season at the school.

Agoura, which placed eighth in the league standings last season, is trying a flat back four defense this season. The Chargers enjoyed success with the reformed defense during the preseason.

An aggressive squad, Agoura likes to persistently flood the front of the goal box with bodies.

The Chargers count on junior Brooke Held for offense. Fellow forward Kinsey McLaughlin, a freshman, has shown a knack for getting open and finishing shots near the net.

Jessica Ramirez and Emily Kenney are savvy senior midfielders who can control a game’s pace. Lydia Bowman and Julie Watson, both juniors, add depth at midfield.

McLaughlin’s sister Kelsey aids the defense. Lisa Bennett and Taylor Sack make stops in the back row. Gina Goryoka and Kelcie Brodsky are quality goalkeepers.

“The girls are definitely coming together,” Skene said. “They are playing as a unit.”

Calabasas Coyotes

Beware of the Coyotes.

Calabasas made the playoffs last year for the first time since joining the Marmonte in 2002. This squad’s an experienced, confident and talented bunch.

“I have so much depth this year,” said second-year head coach Julie Scheppele. “They are such a good team, they play well together and they work hard for each other.”

The Coyotes pass and retain the ball efficiently. A patient team, Calabasas looks for the right moments to attack.

Taylor Hobson is a force at midfield. The junior can launch kicks with her rocket leg or retain possession by using her strength. Jamie Fink is a threat at forward or midfield.

“Jamie is really smart and very technical,” Scheppele said. “She can shoot from the outside and she knows where to be.”

Four-year varsity standout Lauren Busansky anchors the defense. She’s a strong and fast defender who often wins balls in the air.

Sarah Gordon is like Allen Iverson—she’s not afraid to shoot. Gordon, a starting junior forward, is a hardworking athlete with an offensive mentality.

Kelsey Bergh and Cassie Sternbach are experienced goalies.

Junior midfielder Olivia Greenwald passes efficiently and does the subtle, small things to help Calabasas win.

“She doesn’t get the glory,” the coach said of Greenwald. “She does work behind the scenes.”

Westlake Warriors

The Warriors earned a share of a league title last year. Things look different this season.

“We’re going to take a bit of a hit,” head coach Frank Marino said. “We do have a solid group coming back. We’re pretty young, but we can be pretty competitive.”

This is a possession-oriented team that picks its spots to attack.

Allie Altman is a four-year starter at goalkeeper. Altman’s the rock of the defense.

Chloe Wheeler, who will play at Vassar College in New York, and Bri Linares are center defenders.

Mary Case missed last season with a torn ACL. The senior has made a comeback at center midfielder.

Arielle Ship, a sophomore, and junior Taylor Perry pick up the offense at forward. Freshmen center midfielder Sara Ishikawa and outside back Kaitlin Pitcher are playing well early in their careers. Julia O’zello is a versatile athlete who plays multiple positions.

Thousand Oaks Lancers

The Lancers are young and talented. They’re showing their age.

“At times we play well,” head coach Geoff Raives said. “At times we play very bad. We’re up and down right now.” and set up a manageable thirdand two situation. There’s less than two minutes remaining on the clock.

Third down delivers an almost identical play as Mendoza plows forward for four more yards and another Oaks Christian first down.

Harrington’s next two passes fall incomplete, setting up another critical third down.

At the WHS 45 and facing a third and 10, Harrington fakes a shotgun handoff and fires over the middle for Holliday, who makes an amazing two-hand grab. Oaks Christian is now at the Westlake 21 with less than a minute to play.

Harrington throws an incomplete pass on first down.

Oaks Christian goes for pay dirt again on second down, with Harrington firing a spiral toward the back of the end zone.

Medders, who was having his biggest game of the season, leaps and does a 180-degree turn so he’s facing the ball. As Medders gets his hands on the pigskin in midair, Spruce blasts him out of bounds but not before the wide receiver clearly gets one foot inbounds.

“We ran the same play backto back,” Medders said. “On the previous play, I was open but (Harrington) missed me. Then we ran it again and he made a great throw.

“I wasn’t sure if I was in but the referee said it was a touchdown, and I was ecstatic.”

Legions of Westlake fans are convinced Medders was out of bounds, and they let the referees know about it, but television replays confirm the tying score with 44 seconds remaining.

After the touchdown, Oaks Christian calls a timeout before lining up for a 2-point conversion.

Then, with Holliday behind center in the Wildcat formation, the Lions call their final timeout.

“When we first came out, I was going to throw a jump pass to (van der Wal),” Holliday said.

“I was going to run up the middle, sit there for a second and shoot it right over the top. But they had Spruce back there, so we called timeout.”

When Holliday finally takes the snap after the second timeout, he fakes like he’s going into the center of the line then sweeps around the right side of his blockers before beating multiple Westlake defenders to the goal line.

“I was willing to do whatever it took to win,” Holliday said.

“Throw it, kick it—anything to win this game.”

With the successful conversion, Oaks Christian leads 29-28 with 44 seconds to play. Half the stadium is going bananas, while the other half sits in stunned silence.

29-28 Oaks Christian,

:36 seconds in the fourth,

Westlake ball at its own 18:

Westlake has three timeouts and a lot of field to cover.

“I had full confidence that we were going to get down there and be able to kick a field goal,” Isham said.

On his first pass of the drive, Isham finds wideout Jared Fry open down the middle for a long gain, but the ball pops out of Fry’s hands and falls incomplete. Fry punches the turf in disgust. There are 30 seconds remaining.

Following a 5-yard penalty by Oaks Christian, Isham’s next pass is tipped at the line of scrimmage by a hard-charging van der Wal.

Facing third and five, Isham connects with Spruce to push the ball to the WHS 41. Spruce catches the next pass as well, a 7-yard gain that gets the Warriors to midfield with 14 seconds to go.

The next play is pure Westlake magic.

Isham drops back and fires over the middle to a wide open Tuttle. But the toss is a bit high and goes off Tuttle’s fingertips.

Oaks Christian’s Cameron Judge can’t grab the floating ball as it sneaks over his head as well.

Westlake’s Tre’shon Wilson then plucks the ball out of midair and races to the Oaks Christian 24 to set up the game-winning kick.

With five seconds left, the ball on the left hash mark and a timeout remaining, Westlake chooses not to run a play to center up the kick.

Ball, who missed earlier from 42 yards, gets a heavy rush from his left side—Oaks Christian’s Austin Buccieri is unblocked—but is able to get off a booming kick.

As the pigskin soars from left to right, an air horn blows. Ball’s kick finally begins its descent, and as it does, the ball smacks the right post, about midway up, and ricochets to the ground.

“It’s football,” Isham said. “It’s a game of inches.”

Chaos ensues as fans rush the field to rejoice in the home team’s good fortune. Oaks Christian’s prayers have been answered.

“It’s only by the grace of God that the dude missed that field goal,” Adams said. “I’m sorry that he had to, but that was God’s will.”

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