On Friday, the Culver City Centaurs celebrated a win against the Peninsula Panthers, 16-9.

The Centaurs embraced each other after the final whistle. After losing the season’s first two games, they were clearly jubilant and chatty about their win. 

During the first two quarters, the Culver City women’s team had no problem scoring against the Panthers. With Midfielder Katelynn Naylor’s stamina, the women were able to quickly get the ball onto the Panther’s side of the field. Naylor made an impression by not only sprinting her way down the field but also doing it with a long knee brace. At one point, the Centaur’s head coach, Catie Shin, was heard yelling, “Are you okay?” after she scored three times back-to-back, keeping Culver City in the lead, 8-3. Well played humor, Coach Shin! Every time Naylor received the ball, she seemingly would successfully pass it on to her teammates or score. 

Naylor continued to score during the third quarter. She, along with midfielder Cameron Keough and Offense/Attack Raela London, worked together to strike the Panthers and score. However, the Panthers were not going to go down so easily. By this time, Peninsula was starting to pick up their pace. Out of what looked like sheer frustration, the Panthers sprinted their way onto the Centaur’s side of the field and scored. Attack Lisa Willens, and midfielders Olivia Christen and Keira Fletcher, successfully combined for 5 goals against the Centaurs. The scoreboard quickly changed from 8-4 to 11-9. 

Culver City fans began to look a little nervous as they now had no idea of the final outcome. A Centaur parent named Yun Woo told me he was “Nervous, but still confident.” 

During the fourth quarter, Keough had one assist. Naylor scored once. London scored twice for the Centaurs. The bleachers then calmed and even grew animated with smiles and laughter from Culver City family and friends. However, it didn’t compare to the cheers Matthew Moroz made when his daughter, Mia Moroz finished with the final two goals, 16-9. 

Moroz was heard saying, “One for her, and one for me!” as he grinned widely. However, Mia mentioned that it was her father’s birthday along with his partner’s birthday being the day before. She laughingly said, “It was one for him and one for her.”

Shin has been enjoying her second season as head coach. While they did lose their first two games, she is proud they remembered everything they’ve been taught. 

“We had two tough first games, but they applied what we’ve coached them, what we’ve been teaching them, and what we’ve been working on,” she said. “It seems small, but when they apply what we’re learning, it pays off. And it’s exciting to see them have fun too.”

When asked if she was nervous about the Panthers catching up after the third quarter, she said she “Always had complete faith. I always tell my girls, we can only play our best game.” 

The Centaurs are looking forward to playing a home game again this Tuesday against Redondo Union at Helms Field. 

“We are going to keep working hard, we don’t want to get complacent,” Shin said. “It is just the beginning of the season, but we will continue to have fun.”

Photo by the author.