Dayna Koolhaas bagged a hat trick Monday in Ripon Christian’s Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI opener against fifth-seeded Woodland Christian, but she gladly shared the glory with teammates after the 3-1 victory.
Wingers Addison DeJong and Hailey Henderson each had two assists, but they combined with the junior striker for the highlight-worthy first goal.
No. 4 Ripon Christian (19-2-3) was on the front foot from the opening whistle, as DeJong fired a shot that sailed high inside the first minute.
It was in the eighth minute when the Knights’ attacking triumvirate pulled off what Koolhaas referenced as, “the team juggle.”
Henderson started the sequence at the top of the Woodland Christian penalty box, where she spotted DeJong unmarked near the left post. Henderson zipped a knee-high cross that De Jong flicked up for Koolhaas, who then poked it past Cardinals goalkeeper Grace Ehnat (six saves) with a right-footed volley.
It’s an astonishing play they may have a tough replicating on the training ground.
“We’ve never done anything close to that before,” Koolhaas said. “It was just totally one of those (spontaneous) kind of things. We just connected so well. It was an amazing moment for us. In the end, it was just totally down to trusting our teammates to get the ball and get their foot on it. We all just played our parts.”
Although each goal came off the feet of the same player, Ripon Christian coach David Morris was pleased with the variation in his team’s attack. The Knights shot ahead for good, 2-1, in the 32nd minute after Henderson set up a routine 1-v-1 opportunity for Koolhaas with a quick, over-the-top throw-in from the right touchline.
The final goal came 2 minutes into the second half and was a well-orchestrated give-and-go that began with a long ball from the back line. With back to goal, Koolhaas played it to DeJong on the first touch and spun toward the goal. DeJong timed the run with a perfect through ball, leading Koolhaas to her team-leading 26th tally of the season.
“We need more than one person scoring, which is actually how it not happened, but we told our front line that everyone needs to be involved,” Morris said. “We want to be multidimensional. I like that it wasn’t sole-effort goals. Obviously, one person got the final kick, but it was teamwork all the way up.”
Ripon Christian dominated most of the match, out-shooting Woodland Christian (8-6-2), 18-4. The Knights had several other good looks on set pieces, finishing with nine corner kicks against eight for the visiting squad.
Despite the one-sidedness, the Cardinals were able to answer RC’s first goal three minutes later. Kindel Naff took a crack from about 45 yards out, and the low-bouncing ball took an awkward hop and got past goalie Tara Heida (one save).
“We scored and we started relaxing,” Morris said. “Until that point, we were controlling the game. That just kind of lulls us on defense. That was definitely a fluke goal for our goalie, but not a single girl stepped up to that shot. Even though it was taken from really far away, our defense was in cruise-control mode, and you don’t want to give up free shots from anywhere. Nobody tried stopping it.”
He’ll demand a tidier effort Wednesday when his Knights travel to top-seeded Stone Ridge Christian (19-1-2) in Merced. The winner plays in the final round Saturday at a yet-to-be-determined neutral site.
Stone Ridge took care of No. 8 Gustine 4-1 on Monday. Nos. 2 and 3 seeds Golden Sierra (18-6-3) and Summerville (12-5-4) square off in the other semifinal.
“They’re the No. 1 seed for a reason,” Morris said of Stone Ridge Christian. “When I look at the similar teams we’ve played, we had similar results. I expect it to be super tight. Someone was going to have to beat them to win (the championship). We’re not super happy that we’re the 4 seed, but our mentality right now is that we were probably going to have to play Stone Ridge Christian, whether it’s in the semi or the final.”
