Petaluma girls score early, often

It took Petaluma less than three minutes to take away any potential drama in its first-round match against visiting Fortuna in the North Coast Section Division I soccer playoffs Wednesday night at Durst Field.

The No.6 Trojans made it abundantly clear they were on top of their game, scoring on each of their first two possessions, and going on to defeat Fortuna, from the Humboldt Del Norte League Big5, 7-1.

“We talked about getting off to a good start,” said Petaluma coach Ralph Montes. “We scored in the first 1:30.”

Britney Bond took a corner kick from Colette Behen in the second minute and chipped it past goalkeeper Katrina Cahill. Sixty seconds later, Jenny Saxton duplicated the feat. The 2-0 lead was more than enough for the Trojans (10-4-3) against the young, inexperienced Huskies, the 11th-seed.

“I think it was important for us to play hard the whole game,” said Bond, who agreed the early scoring was a key element in the win, but also acknowledging that consistent play throughout the match was essential. “We needed to play under control and make sure our touches were on.”

Petaluma’s opposition takes a huge quality-step forward on Saturday in the quarterfinals against third-seeded Maria Carrillo (16-2-2).

Petaluma’s defense didn’t allow a shot until the 29th minute of the first half. Striker Callie Forrest was tripped just outside the penalty box when she and Janessa Tarca ran together. Anabel Urbina took the free kick from 20-yards, but her hard right-foot smash sailed high over the cross bar. It was the only decent chance the Huskies had in the first half.

Most of the first 40 minutes were played on Fortuna’s side of the pitch. With the Trojans midfield winning the majority of balls to create runs with relative ease, the Trojans found plenty of space between their forwards and Fortuna’s back-line defense. Time after time, the Trojans had possessions around the grid with scoring opportunities. Petaluma out-shot Fortuna 14-2.

In the 18th minute Michelle Garrone slipped past her defender and rolled in the Trojans’ third goal of the half. Natalee Simon gave Petaluma a 4-0 halftime lead in the final minute of the half after receiving a nice cross from Kristen Holmberg.

That the Huskies trailed only 4-0 at the half was due to some good work in goal by Cahill, who had five saves in the half and eight for the game, including a quality stop on a penalty kick.

Petaluma came out after the intermission and immediately found the net, freshman Tara Funk, pushing in a short shot for a 5-0 lead. It was Funk’s first-ever goal. Lizzy Mitchell added a goal in the second half, and Garrone her second score.

The Trojans and their outstanding keeper Casey Drobnick lost the shutout 10 minutes into the second half on a nice goal in transition by Shelby Lipscomb, one of eight freshmen on the Huskies, who also played without starting forward Kelsie Burnside.

The early lead allowed Montes to substitute liberally. The Trojans should have fresh legs against Carrillo. However, the question is: Would a more competitive match been helpful? Certainly, the Trojans will not find the net available with such ease gainst the Pumas, the North Bay League co-champions.

“A game like this is better than a whole week of practice” Montes said. “The girls scored a lot of goals ... their confidence is high.”