Beaumont High girls’ soccer coach Kelsey Tedrow had reason to be concerned prior to the start of this week’s playoff opener.
The Cougars won seven of their last 10 regular season games - but they lost two of their last three, looking sluggish and out-of-sync down the stretch.
But Tedrow was all smiles after the Cougars put together one of their finest efforts of the season during Thursday’s CIF-Southern Section Div. 6 4-0 win over Hacienda Heights.
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"This was much more of what I am used to seeing from my team," Tedrow said. "We were connecting on passes, making runs and talking. On defense we made sure we were on our marks and switching it up. We did a variety of things out there that I felt were good improvements."
Beaumont, runner-up in the Mountain Pass League and in the playoffs for the fifth straight season, won for the seventh time at home. The Cougars (15-6-5) continue the playoffs on Tuesday.
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"We had a real solid practice yesterday and the girls really stepped up," Tedrow said. "They know CIF is a big deal. Mentally the girls were ready."
It took Beaumont just a few minutes to figure Wilson out. After that the Cougars dominated. Six different players took a combined 22 shots on goal. 11 of those shots were in the first half.
"We are a team that likes to come out strong," senior midfielder Rebecca Vanderbyl said. "We don’t know what to expect so we come out strong."
Vanderbyl fired off a handful of long shots, her first two going up the middle to the goalie. Her third and fourth shots, however, found the back of the net.
"They pushed us to the outside and made us take those long shots," Tedrow said. "So Becca just stepped up and put them in."
Vanderbyl put the Cougars up 1-0 with a first half goal at the 38th minute. She then put the Cougars up 2-0 with a goal early in the second half.
"The first goal, it was kind of fun because I got to juke a couple girls and then just shot," Vanderbyl said. "The second shot, I didn’t even think I was going to shoot it. It was a last minute type of thing."
Beaumont went up 3-0 when a Wilson player tried to defend a corner kick by Joye Depalatis. Instead, she headed the shot in for an own goal.
Three minutes later Beaumont took a series of shots on goal. Alma Ruelas took control of one of those deflections and sent it in for the 4-0 lead.
"We took advantage of a few things and had some spot on shots," Tedrow said. "We put the ball in the back of the net when it counted."
