WATSONVILLE — The Watsonville High girls’ soccer tournament does not give out an award for Most Valuable Player.
If it did, Jessica Zavala’s trophy case would have a new shiny addition.
The junior goalkeeper posted her second shutout of the tournament and made a huge save in penalty kicks to lift Watsonville over Santa Cruz High in the championship of their own tournament on Saturday night.
Zavala made seven saves in regulation — four in one-on-one situations — and hit the turf to make a momentum-shifting block on Santa Cruz’s (2-1) second shot of the PK session.
The Cardinals missed their next two high and wide, while Watsonville’s (5-0) seniors Annalee Robledo and Gabby Felix and freshman Brianna Guerrero all sent their shots into the net.
“I was pretty nervous myself,” said Zavala, who was mobbed by her teammates after Santa Cruz sent its final shot off the left post, “but a goalie has to do what they have to do.”
Her nerves didn’t show. Not during PKs, the two five-minute overtimes or the trying 80 minutes of regulation in which she took a kick to the lower back while making a sliding save.
“I didn’t think I was going to get as many shots like usual,” Zavala said. “It felt good because I got some action in the back. The other games I felt really bored.”
After winning its first two games by a combined score of 13-0, Santa Cruz entered Saturday’s final as the juggernaut of the tournament but Zavala and her defense rose to the challenge time and again.
It seemed like Santa Cruz was ready to break the match open with a flurry of attacks during the first 20 minutes. Four times they beautifully worked the ball into the penalty box with simple and smart passes but on every occasion Zavala erased each attempt.
“Santa Cruz is a great team — they have a lot of great players,” said Watsonville head coach Gladys Mondragon. “My team just stayed composed. They were organized through the whole game. It’s nice to see how they can stay organized, especially with how hard they were coming in on the attack.”
Watsonville’s defense settled in after the early burst but its offense, which heavily relied on the long ball, never found its rhythm until the start of OT.
The Cardinals outshot the Wildcatz 9-1 in regulation but the latter had a 3-1 shot advantage in the extra time.
That momentum seemed to carry over into the shootout.
“Some of our passes weren’t connecting but toward the end of the game we started connecting and getting up more,” Felix said. “We adjusted pretty well.”
Watsonville and Santa Cruz will meet again in just a matter of days. The two are scheduled to play today at 6:45 p.m.
It is expected to be another big test for both teams, whom qualified for the Central Coast Section playoffs last season and are expected to compete for their respective league title this campaign.
Win or lose, Mondragon said, Tuesday will be yet another step toward prepping her team for what should be a challenging schedule in the Monterey Bay League Gabilan division.
“We know what’s coming up next,” Mondragon said of her team, which last year won the MBL-Pacific division and is off to its best start in at least 10 years. “We’re working on that; realizing that [Santa Cruz] is a strong team and having the girls believe that they’re a strong team, too. The teams up in the Gabilan are going to fight you and you’re going to have to fight back.”
The Wildcatz took a few haymakers but never put their gloves down.
After Santa Cruz’s initial push, Watsonville played toe-to-toe with the Cardinals.
Watsonville tried to work the ball into Felix several times but Santa Cruz did well to stop the Wildcatz’s high-scoring striker.
Freshman Denise Corrales and junior Ashley Haduca kept Watsonville competitive in the middle but Santa Cruz’s team speed won on most occasions in the first half.
Santa Cruz, however, had only one solid shot on goal in the second half and the Wildcatz produced one of their own, as neither team could break the other’s defensive shell for more than a few yards.
Watsonville dominated the first overtime and Santa Cruz threatened with a trio of corner kicks but the game remained knotted at zeros when the official blew the whistle.
It was all Watsonville and Zavala in PKs.
“This gives us a lot more confidence,” Felix said. “It lets us know that with strong teams like Santa Cruz, we can keep up with them. It gives us a lot of hope about the upper division. It’s like, ‘OK, we have a little taste of how a strong team plays and we were able to adjust to it.’”
