Back in the finals

Jubilation and disappointment don’t go well together.

Most players on Moorpark High’s girls’ soccer team celebrated reaching their second consecutive CIF-Southern Section

Division 4 title match; other Musketeers consoled senior striker Sammi Walker as she sobbed after the team’s 2-0 win over Mayfair in the semifinals on March 1 at home.

Moorpark is headed to a finals rematch against defending champion La Mirada at 7:30 tonight at Warren High in Downey, but the Musketeers will march on without Walker, who drew a red card in the waning minutes of the semifinal.

“It’s a huge loss,” senior Beth Wade said of Walker’s absence, “but I’m confident our team can still go out there against La Mirada and take it to them. I know we can do it.”

The Musketeers nursed a onegoal lead against Mayfair when Walker tacked on an insurance goal in the 65th minute. Moorpark just had to protect a lead for 15 minutes.

As fans stirred to excitement in the stands, frustration mounted on the field.

“I felt like it was getting really intense,” Moorpark head coach Mike Alexander said. “The next thing I knew, people were just in each other’s face.”

The physical affair reached a boiling point: Mayfair defender Ari Gamez and Walker started shoving each other with less than five minutes remaining.

“She just kept pushing me and pushing me in the back,” Walker said. “I turned around and she got in my face. I pushed her back and it just kind of went uphill from there.”

Referees broke up the commotion and ejected the players with red cards.

A red card for Gamez means nothing���her team has gone fishing. That’s not the case for Walker, a brilliant goal-scorer who will be missed during tonight’s championship. Walker already scheduled season-ending surgery that will keep her out of the CIF Southern California Regional Soccer Championships, which begin Tues., March 8.

“I can’t play in regionals,” she said. “They’re going to do great in regionals. I wish I could play with them.”

Regional brackets will be released on Sunday.

Walker’s ejection was a bittersweet end in an exciting match.

Fans went ballistic when Moorpark opened the scoring in the 14th minute. Goalkeeper Courtney Worstell, a junior, blasted a free kick from 65 yards out that skimmed off the top of a Mayfair defender’s head into the back of the net.

“I told my other goalies while we were warming up before the game that I was going to score one,” Worstell said. “Scoring it was the best feeling in the world.”

Alexander said the goal was one to remember.

“For (Worstell) to be rock solid in the back for us all year and to be able to get that moment in front of all her friends and family was awesome,” the coach said.