Mission Bay girls soccer advances to semis, adding to successful season

SAN DIEGO – The Mission Bay girls soccer team earned a trip to the CIF Div. II semi-finals against La Jolla on Feb. 25, after a dramatic victory on penalty kicks in the quarterfinal round versus Otay Ranch.

This will be the third meeting between the two sides this season as the Buccaneers look to avenge both losses to the Vikings.

“They were a tough opponent both times we played them, so we are going to have to play our best game,” said Mission Bay High School head coach Jorge Palacios.

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Mission Bay went to the limit to punch its ticket to the semis on Feb. 20, while also avenging the boys’ side, which lost on penalty kicks the three days before to Otay Ranch. Mission Bay finished regulation time tied 1-1 thanks to a fantastic goal from Gabriella Dasco, which was later followed by conversions from the penalty spot by Mila Marzion, Samantha Burd, and Lyla Anglin.

Mission Bay opened the regular season with a dominating 11-0 drubbing of Hoover on Dec. 2 and followed that up with a 4-0 win over Central Union High School on Dec. 4. After losing two of its next three matches against Coronado and Point Loma, the team went on a five-game winning streak, all of which came via shutouts.

Mission Bay saw its streak come to an end on Jan. 22 against La Jolla by a score of 2-0, but managed to bounce back with four-straight victories, conceding just one goal during that span in the 3-1 win over Santana on Feb. 5.

The Bucs dropped the next meeting versus La Jolla 1-0 on Feb. 10, but managed to get a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Scripps Ranch on Feb. 12 to finish the regular season 12-4-1.

“Every season is going to be a little bit different,” Palacios said. “I think this team is a tight group and they play well together.”

Mission Bay opened the playoffs with a 3-0 opening round victory over Olympian on Feb. 18, thanks to goals by Marzion off an assist from Tristyn Anderso,n along with a brace from Ashley Cuttitta after assists by Sienna Zana and Naia Silveira.

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