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Pirates overwhelm Braves in opener

By Brad Memberto / Sports Writer / bmemberto@syvnews.com

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Santa Ynez’s Kaci Mexico dribbles around Lompoc’s Diana Garcia during a girls soccer match on Thursday in Lompoc.//Ian Gonzaga/Staff

The Santa Ynez girls soccer team scored four minutes into the game and the Lompoc Braves were never closer than that.

The Pirates — four-time defending Los Padres League champions — opened defense of their title with a convincing 5-0 win over the Braves Thursday afternoon at Huyck Stadium.

It was the league-opener for the Pirates, (1-0 LPL) and the second game for the Braves (0-2 LPL).

Emily Ineman assisted on Kendall Sauter’s goal at the 4-minute mark, then scored two goals and added a second assist to lead the way for the Pirates.

Santa Ynez was in control on both offense and defense, not allowing Lompoc to get any offense going.

“Coming into Lompoc and playing on this pitch — which is a lot better than when I was a kid here — we knew it was good plush grass and it’s difficult to play on it,” explained Santa Ynez coach Rob Cantrell. “So we had to make sure we came in with a good solid plan to make the ball work and eliminate unnecessary runs.

“And that’s what we were able to do today.”

With three players battling illness, one injured and one missing after receiving a red card on Tuesday against Cabrillo, the undermanned Braves had only two substitutes.

“We did the best we could do with what we had,” said Lompoc coach Addie Francis. “Santa Ynez played well, you can’t take anything away from them — they wore us down.”

The Pirates were able to continually make substitutions, keeping fresh legs in and wearing down the Braves.

“We were able to use everybody today and that’s always nice,” Cantrell said. “All these girls work very hard.”

Santa Ynez started the season Tuesday, Jan. 5 with a league bye, then had a couple extra days to prepare for the LPL.

“Our preseason is pretty tough in terms of the competition we’re playing,” Cantrell explained, “and it’s on purpose.

“But it doesn’t give us a lot of time to train. So this week was real nice, because we were able to train three days. We had a nice progression from Monday to Tuesday in our build up getting ready for this game and for league.”

Three of the Santa Ynez goals came at the end of a break.

Ineman scored in the

27th minute after breaking in alone past the Lompoc defense and sending a low drive to the near corner. Her second goal came in the 50th minute after she received a long pass from Kaci Mexico, then dribbled the ball 30 yards before hitting a close shot to the far side of the net.

Mercedes Zepeda scored on a rebound off an Ineman shot in the 72nd minute to give the Pirates a 4-0 lead, then Alisa Silsbee broke free for an unassisted goal four minutes later.