Three second half goals capped a dominating performance for the Wilson Bruins as they defended the home turf in the second round of the CIF playoffs and ousted Buena, 3-0.
The Bruins outshot the Bulldogs 22-to-5 after an evenly uneventful first ten minutes, but despite seven shots on goal in the first half, the two teams went to halftime in a scoreless tie.
“I’m not going to lie, I was a little nervous at the half,” said Wilson coach Jason Kirkwood. “It looked like one of those soccer games where you dominate, outshoot the opponent, and they win 1-0… once we got the first score I was happy to see them break through and get a few more.”
On the fourth corner kick of the game for Wilson in the 50th minute, Emily Dillon sent a beautiful service to the heart of the six yard box. Kaitlin Hellmann made a short run off the back post and put the header low off a Buena defender for the first score of the game. Two minutes later, Hellman returned the favor and kicked a bouncing ball high into the air near the goal mouth, where Dillon two touched it home.
Before Kim Marshall wrapped up the scoring in the 70th minute with an incredible strike from almost 50 yards out off a free kick. But before the insurance went in, the Bulldogs got their two best chances at scoring. Megan Erskine and Caitlin Calahan charged hard in the 60th minute, and both times goaltender Breegan Saller came out to make the stop. The second time she clashed with Calahan both players left the field with injury.
“[Saller] comes off her line and closes space so well,” said Kirkwood, who expects his junior goalie to be back and ready for the quarterfinals. “You have to give a lot of credit to Brittany Vaughn and Deana Empleo. Vaughn has really emerged as a leader on the backline… Empleo made a few mistakes, but she’s just a sophomore and she can make up a lot with her athletic ability.”
Saller, Vaughn, Empleo and the rest of the Wilson defense will look to continue it’s dominance in the quarterfinals as they travel to see Moorpark on Friday. The Musketeers played their way into the bracket though the wild card game, and upset Edison yesterday in double overtime, 2-1.