POMONA, CALIF – A tightly contested opening match here Friday at the adidas ESP for Girls was ended by a pair of terrific strikes from Gabriela Iribarne to give Thori Bryan’s Team 1 a 3-1 victory over Danielle Fotopoulos’ Team 4.

Iribarne, who plays for West Coast FC in Southern California, put her team on top 2-1 midway through the 2nd half with a 30-yard bomb delivered upon seeing the opposition goalkeeper off her line. She added the match-clincher in the closing minutes by making a quick move to her left just outside the penalty area and hitting another left-footed laser strike for a 3-1 margin.

Iribarne said she works a lot on her own to try and improve her ball-striking skills.

First half goals came from Team 4’s Megan Hunsberger, an Albertson SC midfielder who knocked home a rebound after Shea Groom’s shot was saved by Team 1 goalkeeper Darcy Hargadon. Hunsberger played very well in the opening half, controlling the tempo of play, distributing with accuracy and basically not having a bad touch of the ball. Her stellar midfield play was complemented by Nevada’s Indiana Mead, who had similar success on the ball to go with a tireless work ethic.

Team 1 got an equalizing goal from Shelby Payne, who was strong up front all day. Her sister Sydney Payne also showed herself as dangerous with powerful running down the right wing.

Other good Team 1 performances came from defenders Satara Murray, Casey Morrison and Shannon Roche. Jenna O’Dell made good saves late from close-range attempts by Hunsberger and Hannah Keane. Maya Theuer was good in defense for Team 4.

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Lineups

Team 1
GK: Darcy Hargadon (Jenna O’Dell)
D: Casey Morrison, Satara Murray, Miranda Cornejo, Shannon Roche
M: Sydney Payne, Sammy Scofield, Gabriela Iribarne, Katie Gancedo
F: Shelby Payne, Sam Leyh
Subs: Darby Broeker, Stephanie Hepfer, Amber Hernandez, Kelsey Smigel

Team 4
GK: Abby Smith (Molly Poletto)
D: Meredith Speck, Maya Theuer, Brittany Von Rueden, Tabria Williford
M: Nicole Colaprico, Indiana Mead, Megan Hunsberger, Hannah Keane
F: Julia Sandridge, Shea Groom
Subs: Caroline Brawner, Jessica Kelley, Kasey Koballa, Helena Pereira