The562’s high school soccer coverage for the 2025-26 season is sponsored by Long Beach Poly soccer alum Kennedy Justin.
The562’s coverage of Millikan Athletics for the 2025-26 school year is sponsored by Brian Ramsey and TLD Law.
The562’s coverage of Long Beach Wilson Athletics is sponsored by Joel Bitonio, Class of 2009.
On Opening Night for Moore League girls’ soccer, it was another trademark battle between Millikan and Wilson on a cool Thursday evening at DeHaven Stadium.
In just their second official game of the season, both sides showcased their skill and physicality, knowing the importance this match is sure to have on the league title race.
All the scoring in Thursday’s match was contained in a 16-minute first-half flurry, with the host Rams emerging with a 2-1 victory over their league rivals.
“I’m proud of their effort,” said Millikan head coach Tino Nunez after the win. “We talked about it (with the team), it’s early on (in the season), the X’s and O’s will come as we go. We’ll get to know how to play with each other naturally, but the one thing that you’ve got to do is come out and want it more in these games. I thought we came out today with a lot of energy, and I’m proud of their effort.”
The Rams entered the match chasing a goal, after going scoreless through two scrimmages and their first official match of the season against Huntington Beach. They were able to break through in the 14th minute on a terrific move up the home sideline, started by a pass from Alexanda “Furby” Rios that got sophomore Ellie Carungcong off to the races.
Carungcong was able to race past a pair of Bruins defenders before delivering an inviting cross through the Wilson penalty area. After Karly Gallo was unable to connect, it rolled through for a charging Alyssa Carrillo, who side-footed her shot into the net, giving Millikan its first goal of the season and a 1-0 lead.
The game went back-and-forth, with each team earning dangerous set piece opportunities. Rios was the closest to converting hers, sending a curler over the crossbar for her first shot of the night. Moments later, during the run of play, she had an opening to fire from just inside 30 yards, tucking her strike into the bottom left corner to double the Millikan lead in the 27th minute.
The two-goal lead lasted all of three minutes, as Wilson found a response at the half hour mark. With a free kick opportunity near the corner flag, senior Ryan Sorensen delivered a well-struck ball to the near post. It appeared to ricochet off a Millikan defender and into the goal, cutting the deficit in half and giving the Bruins a needed shot of life going into the second half.
During those final 40 minutes, Wilson generated all of the scoring chances, outshooting the hosts 5-0 in the second half. Zoie Fontenot got the first look at goal in the 44th minute but pulled her shot just wide, and she and sister Kai helped lead the Bruins’ search for an equalizer. That talented duo certainly drew the attention of Millikan’s backline, led by senior Savannah Galvan.
“We know obviously the (Fontenot) sisters are hard to handle, so we always needed help around them,” admitted Nunez of his team’s defensive focus to protect the lead. “I thought we did a good job of somebody always coming to help, if it’s not the second one, the third one, and just trying to slow that down. I think in the second half, it was making sure defensively we’re helping each other and we’ll give ourselves the best chance to not concede.”
Wilson’s best scoring chance came with about 10 minutes left to play, when freshman Ella George curled a shot that beat Millikan goalie Samantha Ortiz, but deflected off the post and back into play. Kai Fontenot fired the rebound on goal but Ortiz was able to recover for the save, though the assistant referee’s flag did signal that Fontenot was offside for the putback attempt.
Eventually, the final whistle would end Wilson’s comeback attempt, but it was an encouraging effort for the Bruins, according to head coach Brian Irvin.
“Very, very pleased and very proud,” Irvin said of his team’s performance. “I thought we did a great job keeping our heads in it and battling back. And I’m proud of everyone, but we had three freshmen and one sophomore, so that says a lot for those girls’ ability to hang in there. And even though we had to play (Millikan) early on (in the season), it’s tough, but I feel like we competed and battled and we’re just going to get better.”
Irvin said he hopes his team can build confidence from their performance over the final 50 minutes of the match, knowing there’s plenty of soccer ahead this season, including the rematch on Jan. 13 at Wilson.
Both teams will be in action next Tuesday when Wilson (1-1) visits Compton and Millikan (1-1) travels to Jordan.
