Skylar Herrera delivers dramatic draw for Long Beach Poly, Wilson soccer

LONG BEACH >> Sometimes the right player is in the right place at the right time for a soccer team, and sometimes that happens twice in one week.

That was the case for Long Beach Poly’s girls soccer team this week, as freshman midfielder Skylar Herrera came up with late goals in two games to most likely help deliver a third consecutive Moore League title to Poly. Wilson led for much of the title tilt between the two schools on Friday before Herrera’s equalizer forced a 1-1 draw that put Poly alone atop the standings.

The goal came in the 66th minute after Wilson had led for more than 40 minutes. Aaqila McLyn sent in a long free kick, and Wilson keeper Briana Vasquez-Ortiz did well to punch it out. Unfortunately for the Bruins, Herrera volleyed it straight back into the net with her left foot, setting off an emotional celebration. Herrera’s late equalizer against Millikan on Tuesday kept the Jackrabbits in first place.

Herrera wasn’t embarrassed to admit she was emotional about the goals.

“It’s crazy, as a freshman I just feel like I’m on a rollercoaster,” she said. “For it to happen again, it’s crazy.”

Wilson took the lead on a great individual effort from Harmony Ntuk, who beat McLyn over the top and then put up a deep shot that floated over the Poly keeper in the 15th minute. It looked like the Bruins took a 2-0 lead on a goal just minutes before Herrera’s score, but it was called off due to offsides, which drew the ire of Wilson fans and coaches.

“We gave Poly everything they could handle today, but congrats to them, they find a way to get the job done late,” said Wilson coach Dalton Kaufman.

Aside from Herrera’s heroics, it was an emotional game for Poly, which was without its longtime head coach, Teri Collins, who was suspended for a game following the red card she received in Tuesday’s draw with Millikan.

Joe Cantu, who has been Collins’ assistant for the last five years, served as the head coach for the game.

“These certainly aren’t the circumstances I wanted to coach under,” he said, “but at least we were able to get the result. We wanted to get this win so the team could dedicate it to Coach Collins. This is a good gift.”

Advertisement

The Jackrabbits have just a home game with Lakewood left on the regular-season schedule on Tuesday, while Wilson will host Millikan and Compton next week.

- - , .