WESTLAKE VILLAGE >> The show must go on, and Brooke Wynalda was not going to miss her call time.
Knowing that she had a featured spot for the Westlake High anatomy class talent show, Wynalda made sure to take care of business quickly in Westlake’s CIF Southern Section Division 1 girls soccer playoff opener Thursday against Rancho Cucamonga.
Wynalda scored in the third minute for Westlake, then made sure there were no shenanigans with a dagger goal in the 76th minute in third-seeded Westlake’s 2-0 victory over Rancho Cucamonga.
To make the opening curtain, Wynalda lowered the curtain on Rancho Cucamonga’s season.
PHOTO GALLERY: Images from Rancho Cucamonga-Westlake girls soccer match
“I was thinking we’ve got to get this finished,” Wynalda said, laughing. “I’ve got to go — well not literally break a leg — but break a leg tonight.”
Westlake (15-0-2) travels to Troy for Tuesday’s second-round matchup.
Each Westlake player drew a heart on their arms with a marker and put a small number 1 in them after the game.
Their goal is to fill their hearts with playoff wins.
“We’re going to get all five in there,” Westlake’s Hannah Sharts said.
Westlake set the tone early in its return to the Division 1 playoffs.
Tia Catalano made a fantastic run down the sideline and sent a beautiful cross to Wynalda, who displayed a suave touch to knock it in and get Westlake going in the third minute.
“We really wanted to get a goal early so we could get the team in the right mindset,” Catalano said.
Westlake attacked the goal for the majority of the match with Sami Fairweather, Elle Lindenlaub and Catalano applying constant pressure, but Westlake was not finding that finishing touch to put the match away.
“We had 4-5 good chances to score to put the match away and we didn’t put them away,” Westlake coach Frank Marino said. “The game is still 1-0, and they have players who were dangerous and it makes you leery. Plus their No;. 2 (Makayla Soll) was a handful for us.
“That’s why that second goal was so important.”
This time, it was Lindenlaub’s turn to make a strong run down the right side. She crossed and Wynalda and Catalano each took big kicks. The ball squirted back to Wynalda, who hammered it home.
“In the beginning, we were a little iffy and we definitely were not ourselves,” Lindenlaub said. “But in the end, we completed the plays and finished the goals. That’s what matters.”
Sharts led another stout defensive effort that helped Alexa Soto notch the shutout, even coming up with a bloody leg in the final minute.
“That’s just the usual,” Sharts said, laughing. “I’m ecstatic. I couldn’t be happier than we won our first playoff game.”
Rancho Cucamonga goalkeeper Alexus Jones made several quality saves to keep the pressure on Westlake.
Overall Rancho Cucamonga completed a 16-6-1 campaign, which was impressive considering it lost 10 seniors from last year’s CIF semifinal squad.
“We had some ups and downs and some bumps, but in general, we played our hearts out and did the best we could,” Rancho Cucamonga captain Leilani Ramirez said. “Considering we lost 10 seniors from last year, we stepped our game up.”
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