Hat Trick

Rick Devereux A hat trick by Annie Capaldi partnered with solid defense led to Carden Hall's 3-0 victory over Newport Heights Saturday evening at the Costa Mesa Sports Farm Complex in girls third- and fourth-grade quarterfinal action. The Eagles will play Kaiser today at 10:30 a.m. with the winner advancing to the championship game at 2 p.m. Nicole Zelinski booted a corner kick, which resulted in Capaldi's first goal about mid-way through the first half.

The Newport boys under-13 soccer team won against South Irvine 5-2, Saturday at Kaiser Field in Costa Mesa. A hat trick was accomplished by team captain Jay Ordaz. Chris O'Campo scored on a corner kick to start the scoring streak, while Kaelin Daly scored on a breakaway. Other offensive contributors were Ali Sadri, Brian Baca, Hector Marino, Ali Sadri and Sebastien Welch. The defensive team of Aaron Rentz, E. J. Kehoe, Jake Manning, Spencer Martinez and Chris Mendez held Irvine to two points.

Steve Virgen CORONA DEL MAR - With only 50 seconds remaining, and his team trailing 3-2, Corona del Mar's Patrick Suozzi, a boys under-12 soccer player, created a new nickname for himself. You can now call, Patrick, "Hat Trick." Suozzi scored his third goal of the day on a breakaway to lead his Mavericks to a 3-3 tie with mini-Back Bay rival the Newport Beach Juventas Saturday at Anderson field. "I thought we were going to lose," Suozzi said.

Freshman forward Miguel Ochoa of Orange Coast College scored three goals and teammate Dante Zena added two as the visiting Pirates defeated Fullerton, 6-2, in an Orange Empire Conference men's soccer game Monday. It was Ochoa's first career hat trick. The Pirates (15-3-4, 8-1-4 in the OEC) built a 3-0 halftime lead as Ochoa scored his team's first two goals and Zena scored late in the first half. Fullerton fell to 6-11-3, 4-7-1. Ochoa scored in the game's fourth minute, then again in the 18th minute, after Wes Watkins played the ball to Juan Cervantes, whose cross set up Ochoa.

Ryan Letts tallied a hat trick to lead the Corona del Mar roller hockey team to a 5-0 victory over Santa Margarita on Nov. 20 at the Worldwide Hockey Center in Irvine. CdM's defense was led by goalkeeper Eric Mirowitz, who stopped all 20 Santa Margarita shots. Letts scored the first goal of the game on a power play in the first period when he steered Jared Mortenson's centering pass past the Santa Margarita goalkeeper. Letts struck again with 10 minutes, 13 seconds remaining in the third period wen he flipped a rebound from Mike Bolton's slap shot over the Santa Margarita netminder for the score.

Rick Devereux The 3-0 victory for Newport Heights over Newport Coast on Wednesday at the Costa Mesa Farm Sports Complex in the girls third- and fourth-grade Daily Pilot Cup gold division was a lot closer than the score indicated. "On a scale of one to 10, I think we played a six and they played an eight," Newport Coast Coach Ali Sabouni said. "They didn't really outplay us too much." The first 15 minutes of the first half were evenly matched, with both squads pushing the ball.

Steve Virgen COSTA MESA - Newport Harbor High girls field hockey coach Sharon Wolfe couldn't bear the sight of it. All week long she had told her players to spread themselves out in regards to attacking the net on offense. And two minutes into the match, senior Elizabeth Evans was out of position and in Wolfe's doghouse. Wolfe immediately took her standout out of the match as a matter of discipline and so that the senior could see how the coach wanted it done.

COSTA MESA — Jeff Wood might've looked silly if he was out on the dance floor. But he was on the pitch and he made himself look natural after scoring a goal, and then another, and another. After each time he found the net, he had some special celebration. He was just having fun, and in the process he led Waldorf to a 3-2 victory over Pomona in a boys' fifth- and sixth-grade bronze division quarterfinal game of the Daily Pilot Cup Saturday. Wood's hat trick came with some flair at Costa Mesa High.

NEWPORT COAST ? With one powerful strike, NuView Bridge High's Jose Cardoza did what no other opposing player had been able to do all year against Sage Hill School. He scored a goal. But even great teams allow goals. They also come back strong from them, and that's what the Lightning did, scoring six times in the second half to top NuView, 8-1, in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division VI playoffs Saturday at Sage Hill. The second-seeded Lightning remained unbeaten at 15-0-2, but saw its streak of 12 straight shutouts end. They'll be looking to start another streak and add another to their 14 overall shutouts when they play against Ontario Christian Wednesday in the second round.

COSTA MESA — Yaritza Garcia's booming kicks are always useful for the Sonora Elementary girls' fifth- and sixth-grade silver division team at the Daily Pilot Cup. Garcia plays on defense, and those kicks can get the Eagles out of danger. But on set pieces, her right foot itself turns dangerous. Garcia had a hat trick Thursday evening as Sonora blanked Wilson, 4-0, in its tournament-opening game at Davis Elementary. The Eagles have big plans after winning the fifth- and sixth-grade girls' bronze division title last year.

COSTA MESA — The Orange Coast College men's soccer team sent an offensive barrage at Santiago Canyon on Tuesday and it paid off in a 3-0 Orange Empire Conference win at the OCC Soccer Complex. OCC (5-2, 1-0 in conference) outshot the Hawks, 30-9 in the game as wave after wave of Pirate players took turns at scoring. After several early missed opportunities, OCC grabbed a 1-0 lead in the 44th minute when Chase Nugent found a loose rebound off of a Victor Lopez shot and slipped the ball past SCC goalkeeper Daniel Dorantes.

COSTA MESA — A woman asked the boys from Mariners Elementary's team to line up for a photo before they stepped on the soccer field. Sunday was going to mark the last time the sixth-graders played together at the Daily Pilot Cup. One player did not want to be a part of the photo. "We'll get a picture when we win," he told the woman with the camera. That is how confident Mariners went into the fifth- and sixth-grade gold division title match against Whittier. Keep in mind, Mariners had never won the gold division at the tournament, boys or girls.

COSTA MESA — Late Friday night, Rea Elementary Coach Ryan Baker got the call he had been waiting for. It was good news as he received confirmation that his boys' fifth- and sixth-grade gold division team advanced to Saturday's quarterfinals as a wild card in the 12th annual Daily Pilot Cup. Most of the Rea players thought they had been eliminated. "I called all the kids to tell them, 'We've got a second chance,' " Baker said. "I told them, 'Let's take advantage of it. We're not dead yet.' " The Sharks, who have won the past four gold division titles and nine in the past 11 years, are still alive.

COSTA MESA — Yaritza Garcia's booming kicks are always useful for the Sonora Elementary girls' fifth- and sixth-grade silver division team at the Daily Pilot Cup. Garcia plays on defense, and those kicks can get the Eagles out of danger. But on set pieces, her right foot itself turns dangerous. Garcia had a hat trick Thursday evening as Sonora blanked Wilson, 4-0, in its tournament-opening game at Davis Elementary. The Eagles have big plans after winning the fifth- and sixth-grade girls' bronze division title last year.

CORONA DEL MAR — The players on the Corona del Mar High girls' soccer team have numbers on the back of their jerseys, but maybe nametags on the front might also have been appropriate Tuesday. Several of the Sea Kings have had club commitments the past couple of weeks. Coach Bryan Middleton said the nonleague season opener against visiting Costa Mesa was the first time he's had his whole squad assembled. "This is the first time we've come together as a team this year," Middleton said after CdM captured a 6-1 victory.

The Newport Beach-based Slammers FC boys' under-16 team captured the U.S. Youth Soccer Region IV championship in dominating fashion led by Corona del Mar High sophomore-to-be Jack McBean's hat trick. The Slammers defeated defending champion Sereno White of Arizona, 5-1, in Albuquerque, N.M. Sunday. In addition to McBean the Slammers also featured Sea Kings Connor Gaal, Jack Gorab, Greg Allen and Mason Case. The Slammers' coach George Larsen was also the head man of the CdM boys' soccer team that won the CIF Southern Section Division IV title and CIF Division II Southern California Regional championship this year.

COSTA MESA — Jeff Wood might've looked silly if he was out on the dance floor. But he was on the pitch and he made himself look natural after scoring a goal, and then another, and another. After each time he found the net, he had some special celebration. He was just having fun, and in the process he led Waldorf to a 3-2 victory over Pomona in a boys' fifth- and sixth-grade bronze division quarterfinal game of the Daily Pilot Cup Saturday. Wood's hat trick came with some flair at Costa Mesa High.

NEWPORT BEACH — Three kids from the stands at Newport Harbor High made their way down to the lacrosse field with a complaint. One tried to correct the score of the Battle of the Bay at halftime. “It should be 5-1, not 5-0,” he told the two referees as the Sailors trailed Corona del Mar. The main referee shook his head before informing the kid the ball was outside of the net. It seemed like everyone on the Sailors’ side tried to argue each call that went against them Friday night.

BOYS’ BASKETBALL Sage Hill 68, Whitney 65 (OT) NEWPORT COAST — Frank Shapiro scored 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the Lightning in the Academy League game Friday night. Mark Loper, who scored 15 points, hit two free throws in a one-and-one situation at the end of regulation to send the game into overtime with a 59-59 tie. Sage Hill Coach Jeff Beeler said Loper was fouled on the dribble just outside the three-point line as time expired in regulation.

CORONA DEL MAR — Coach George Larsen said he doesn’t have his Corona del Mar High boys’ soccer team focus on the wins. “It’s about getting better each day,” said Larsen, who in his first year with the Sea Kings might be running out of ways to push them. How much can a team improve after it has been perfect? No team has shown the capability to keep up with CdM early in the season. Laguna Beach was the sixth team to try and the Sea Kings sent the Breakers home with a 4-0 nonleague loss on Wednesday.