Laguna Blanca boots Lady Toads out of Condor title shot
by Misty Volaski

Normally, a loss isn't something a team would cheer about. However, to Fred Coleman's Lady Toad soccer squad, "Playing our best and losing to a superior team is better than winning an inferior team and not playing our best."
Though Laguna Blanca dominated throughout the entire game to win, 4-0, Thacher "Played very hard despite the fact that things looked pretty helpless," Coleman said.
This year's team is a young one, Coleman added, with only four returning starters. It was expected that a team such a Oaks Christian, who is currently 19-0 overall, would beat the Toads.
The first game against Oaks Christian found them trampling all over Thacher, as Coleman took out his top player, Brooke Toeller, due to a quad injury. He replaced her with his sweeper - leaving the defense without its key component - which proved to be Thacher's undoing.
Though Thacher lost their first meeting 6-0, the second one was much closer, finding the two teams tied in the last 15 minutes of play.
"We played the most technically, fundamentally sound game we've played all year," Coleman noted. "It was one of those transcending experiences. We felt really good about how well we played."
The girls will go to CIF playoffs this Saturday, at Brentwood to play Oakwood at 12 noon Coleman hopes the Laguna Blanca and Oaks Christian losses will help them postseason.

© 2002 The Ojai Valley News

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