Santa Clarita Christian midfielder Chloe Edwards ran toward the rolling ball, cocked her leg back and sent a towering shot well over the crossbar.
She put her hands over her mouth to conceal a laugh.
Having been so much in control of a 3-0 win over St. Monica of Pasadena on Friday at The Master’s University, Edwards deserved a moment to let loose.
She scored the Cardinals’ first two goals, both unassisted, and kept the Crusaders (1-3-1) on their toes most of the afternoon.
“Just getting a feel for it,” Edwards said of how she picks her spots to attack, “realizing, ‘Oh, there’s a pocket — there’s a hole there. Finding where you can keep the ball and were you can’t.”
The game was relatively static through its opening minutes. Then Edwards made the St. Monica defense look statuesque.
She weaved past multiple defenders before depositing the ball in the net for a 1-0 lead midway through the first half.
Her second goal looked very similar, and Jennifer Curry set the final score early in the second half, scoring off a rebound.
PHOTOS: SCCS vs. St. Monica GIRLS SOCCER
Edwards, though, set the tone.
“She has the uncanny ability to keep the ball that very few players have,” said SCCS coach Jason Cooper, whose team improved to 3-2, “and she wants the ball.”
Cooper said St. Monica was more physical this year than last year, something that might have contributed to the Cardinals’ second-lowest goal count of the year.
They lost 2-1 to Laguna Blanca of Santa Barbara on Dec. 2, but had scored at least four goals in all of their other games.
Edwards, an All-CIF honoree last season and a Cal State Northridge commit, scored four goals and assisted on three others through the Cardinals’ first three games. Stats for the team’s 7-0 win over Valley Torah of Valley Village on Dec. 6 had not been uploaded to MaxPreps.
Edwards said it was her teammates, not the numbers, that kept her hungry to build on last year’s success.
“One of my favorite parts of the year is high school season,” Edwards said. “I get to just play, and there’s no pressure. I get to just play and have fun with my teammates.”