Carlmont girls' soccer no match for Ocean Division

“I’m trying to make it fun for them,” Quan said. “Come up with ways to score goals. ... We want to have a hat trick (one player with three goals) every game.

“I’m trying to keep these girls motivated to play high-level soccer.”

While Carlmont is still looking for that header off a corner, the Scots did come up with a hat trick for the fourth time in six Ocean Division games. Freshman striker Kaylee Kim actually went one better, scoring four times in the Scots’ 7-0 win over visiting Capuchino.

Despite all of Quan’s efforts, it’s still a grind for the Scots.

“Honestly, it’s been really frustrating,” said Maya Blodgett, a four-year varsity player for the Scots and one of three team captains.

“We want to keep our aggression up. We don’t want to drop to [the opposing team’s] level.”

To that end, Quan has made practices as challenging as possible and she wants her players driving hard for playing time.

“That’s the mindset I want them to have. No matter what league we’re playing in, you’re battling each other. … You’re still playing for playing time.”

The “iron sharpens iron” approach seems to be working for Carlmont (6-0 PAL Ocean, 12-2-1 overall) because after a slow start, scoring just twice in the first half, the Scots opened things up in the second, scoring five times.

It took a while for Carlmont to adjust to the defensive strategy Capuchino (2-2-1, 4-10-1) was employing. In soccer, it’s called “parking the bus,” when an opposing team has all 11 players in their defensive end, trying to slow down a better opponent.

And that strategy worked, early in the game anyway. Carlmont didn’t have too many dangerous chances in the first 15 minutes as the Mustangs essentially clogged up the passing lanes.

“We definitely have to adjust to it (teams focusing on defense),” Blodgett said. “We just have to spread it around and move the ball faster.”

Some of Carlmont’s offensive frustrations also had to do with Capuchino goalkeeper Phoenix Pinon, a freshman who managed to come up with 12 saves, including a couple of the spectacular variety.

But she couldn’t keep them all out as Carlmont peppered the goal with 20 shots on frame.

The Scots almost had to entice Capuchino to push forward, if for no other reason than to loosen things up in the middle of the field.

When they finally pulled the Mustangs out of their defensive shell, the Scots finally found some room to operate. In the 17th minute, Carlmont finally got on the scoreboard. Emily Gehrlein-Allen chased down a long pass along the right flank. As she neared the end line, she cut a cross to the middle of the Capuchino penalty box.

The ball was too high for Blodgett, but Kim was making a run behind her and she was the one who finished in the back of the net for the 1-0 lead.

The Scots didn’t strike again until the final five minutes of the first half. Kim made a run through the middle of the Capuchino defense, but was dispossessed at the top of the penalty box.

The ball, however, rolled right into the oncoming path of Emilie Brack, who hammered home a shot from 20 yards out to give Carlmont a 2-0 lead at halftime.

In the second half, the Scots poured it on. They needed just five minutes to make it 3-0 as Blodgett intercepted a Capuchino goal kick and touched a pass to Kim.

Kim carried the ball to the end line, made a parallel run to it, beating a pair of defenders before delivering a nutmeg of Pinon, a shot that squeezed between her legs and into the net.

Three minutes later, Gehrlein-Allen earned her second assist, sending a cross into the middle of the box where Nare Avetian blasted a one-timer into the top of the net for a 4-0 Scots advantage.

Kim got her hat trick in the 55th minute with an unassisted goal and in the 60th, scored on the rebound off a shot from Avetian. Madeline Cunningham rounded out the scoring in the 77th minute.

Despite the lopsided score, Quan wasn’t going to hand out accolades without also addressing some issues. Anything to keep the Scots on their toes.

“I’d like it to be a little cleaner,” Quan said. “I want us to completely dominate the game.”

Not what the rest of the Ocean Division wanted to hear.