“We want to win it all,” Ohlhaver said. “We have a lot of good players coming in this year. We’re just really excited to play and really hoping for a good season this year. Our upperclassmen are really serious about it, and we haven’t had that in the past.”
Just seven minutes in, sophomore Gillian Hogan crossed the ball to Ohlhaver, who stuck it in at the left post. In the 13th minute, Hogan converted a hard, straightaway shot from just outside the box to give the Sailors a 2-0 lead.
Six minutes after that, sophomore Elizabeth Eddy got a steal, then eventually took a pass from Ohlhaver to score Newport Harbor’s third goal.
It was smooth sailing for the Sailors and their first-year coach.
Draluck, a 47-year-old walk-on coach from San Clemente, is one of the most respected youth soccer coaches around. He has been coaching for 25 years, and started the San Juan Capistrano-based Southern California Blues soccer club in 1989.
Eighteen years later, Draluck still coaches on the Blues’ under-17 and under-18 teams. Hogan and Eddy, a transfer from Calvary Chapel who was the Orange Coast League co-MVP last season, play for the Blues’ under-16 team. In July, the duo helped the under-15 team win the national title at the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships in Texas.
Draluck himself won the California Youth Soccer Association-South Girls’ Coach of the Year award in 2005-06.
