Capuchino warms up in second half

Tuesday's game with the visiting Warriors was shaping up much the same way - Capuchino was dominating yet the Mustangs found themselves locked in a scoreless tie midway through the second half.

Last year, however, the Mustangs had depended on others to win a championship. This season, if Capuchino just takes care of business, the Mustangs will find themselves in the Central Coast Section playoffs.

Capuchino finally did take care of business with a goal in the 55th minute. That initial goal appeared to relax the Mustangs who went on to score two more times in the final 15 minutes of the game to pull out a 3-0 win.

"I thought we played pretty well, we just weren't 100 percent focused," Jenkins said. "It's a challenge to always keep them focused."

That was never more evident when Jenkins subbed out Lindsay Gotthardt — one of the team's best players — 15 minutes into the second half. Jenkins gave her a pep talk, telling her to forget any mistakes she might have made and play like everyone knows she can.

The pep talk paid off as minutes later, with Gotthardt back in the game, Capuchino (10-0-1 Ocean Division, 13-2-1 overall) finally found the back of the net. Kelly Young sent a corner kick into the South City penalty box that was flicked on by Caitlin Peluffo. The ball bounced to the feet of Gotthardt, who pounded the ball off a defender and into the net for a 1-0 Mustangs' advantage.

"[The goal] was the breaking point," Jenkins said. "Once [Gotthardt] settled herself down and focused, that was the key."

The goal also seemed to awaken the rest of the Mustangs. Five minutes later, Sheila Damato gave Capuchino a 2-0 lead. Peluffo gathered the ball near midfield, and after beating two defenders, broke in toward the Warriors' goal. She sent a long cross to the far right post, but the South City goalkeeper was there. She made the initial grab, but dropped the ball — right at #14's feet — who had no trouble burying the rebound.

Two minutes later, Young made it 3-0 Capuchino when she blasted a shot from 35 yards that slipped through the goalkeeper's hands and just over the goal line for the final tally of the game.

While the final score makes the game look like a blowout, it was anything but in the early going. Despite putting heavy pressure on the South City goal early in the first half, Capuchino could not put one away. The Warriors' sweeper, Shannon Haffey, did a great job holding the Mustangs' offense at bay, clearing out anything that got near the goal.

With South City so concerned with the Mustangs' offense, the Warriors went into a defensive shell.

"They bunkered in on us," Jenkins said. "It makes it difficult (to score) when there are a lot of players back (on defense)."

The win keeps the Mustangs on top of the Ocean Division standings and Jenkins doesn't really care which teams are chasing them.

"[The Mustangs] know how important every game is. I don't want it to be, 'We need so-and-so to win,' or 'we need so-and-so to do this,'" Jenkins said. "I don't look ahead. I think teams that look forward have a let down."