Corner crushed

Both coaches praised it. There was no doubt, it was a beautiful piece of soccer. Even the refs were talking about it after the game.

Unfortunately for the Lindhurst High girls, it happened at their expense.

With less than 10 minutes left, Golden Sierra's Alexa McComb struck a corner kick that landed in the Blazers' net untouched, a perfect mixture of arching and bending that gave the Grizzlies the 2-1 win over their Golden Empire League rival on Wednesday.

"Now that's just a beautiful shot," Grizzlies coach David Gleason said. "(She) has a good bend; a nice touch on the ball isn't it?"

Yes, and that precision kick, which sailed into the right-hand side of the goal, highlighted a problem that plagued the Blazers nearly the entire second half — they simply couldn't clear the ball.

"It was a great corner kick," said Lindhurst coach John Klingensmith, who doled out the compliment before breaking down how his team found themselves in such a situation. "We gave them way too many opportunities on their corner kicks."

Lindhurst didn't take a single corner in the second half. The Grizzlies practically camped out in the corners, a result of some aggressive play and a heavy wind blowing back the Blazers' best attempts to boot the ball out of their zone.

"Every time we would try a goal kick, our sweeper would kick it and the wind would hold it up a good 15-20 yards," Klingensmith said.

Still, the Blazers did find some success early in the second half. Marisol Morales scored her first goal of the year to tie the game at 1-1 minutes after the whistle blew to start the final 40 minutes. After DeeDee Yang put a shot on goal that deflected off the Grizzles' keeper, Morales was there to bury the rebound.

The goal was a testament to Morales' hustle.

Then came the go-ahead stunner, a testament to pure talent.

And that corner did more than give the Grizzlies a reason to be happy on their long bus ride home. For the Blazers, it put them on alert for making the postseason.

Lindhurst (5-2-2) is one of four teams vying for three of the league's playoff spots. They entered this game looking up at Marysville (5-0-2) and first place Grizzlies (8-0-2) in the standings. With the defeat, the Blazers, who tied Golden Sierra 1-1 during their earlier go-around this year, will have to perform well in their final games, which includes going up against the Indians.

Klingensmith isn't worried.

"We still have a chance, no doubt about that," he said. "It doesn't take too much to get up for Marysville."