Mission Bay staring down Scripps Ranch for first place

The Mission Bay girls soccer team will go on the road for its most important game of the season on Wednesday evening to take on Scripps Ranch in hopes of claiming the top spot in the Eastern League standings.

The Bucs enter the match with a 2-0-1 league record (10-1-1 overall) while the Falcons enter with a 3-0-1 league record (9-2-4 overall).

“Mission Bay is a good team that’s well coached, well organized, and athletic,” said Scripps Ranch head coach Tom Crane. “Mission Bay has three players up front that are not only athletic but are fast and skillful.” 

The two teams settled for a scoreless draw when they first met back on Jan. 10. Since then, Mission Bay has gone 3-1 including a 6-0 victory over San Diego High on Jan. 24 with its lone defeat coming on Jan. 13  to El Capitan by a score of 1-0. The Bucs have outscored the opponents 

39-1 so far this season while the Falcons enter Wednesday’s match on a four-game winning streak having not tasted defeat since Dec. 11.

“Mission Bay is fun to watch but tough to coach against,” Crane added. “They are very solid in all aspects and a good match up. It’s fun to play in that kind of game. We will have to stay focused for the entire match or else we will get punished.”

This is Crane’s first year coaching the varsity squad having taken over for Larry Pernicano who served as head coach for the previous 30 years.

The Bucs faced Scripps Ranch twice last season coming out victorious both times in games that were decided by one score. Mission Bay will have four more matches left after Scripps Ranch with three of those coming at home against Point Loma, University City, and the regular season finale versus San Diego High on Feb. 12.

Photo by Steve Sidell