One hundred reasons to smile for Estrada, Knights

Robyn Estrada couldn’t have asked for a better scenario.

Jaide Garcia couldn’t have been happier to oblige.

Estrada recorded a hat trick Tuesday to reach 100 career goals, the last score coming in the 35th minute off an assist from her best friend Garcia, helping the Desert Christian of Lancaster girls’ soccer team defeat Kern Valley of Lake Isabella 12-0 at Lancaster National Soccer Complex.

"At the very beginning of the game, I told (Robyn) 'I know you’re close, but I’m not going to tell you how many you have,'" said Garcia, who scored twice and had two assists in the High Desert League win.
"All I know is she needed to get three and every time I got the ball, I was looking for her. I was so happy she finally got it."

Estrada, who has 24 goals this season after leading the Southern Section with 40 last year, returned the favor in the 61st minute, delivering a well-placed corner kick, which Garcia headed inside the left post.

"Jaide is definitely a huge part of these 100 goals. There’s a lot of people who have been a big part of this," said Estrada, who has 76 career assists. "It’s not always about the goalscorer. If it wasn’t for people like Jaide working so hard to get me the ball or Kristyn Richards saving us on defense so many times, then I wouldn’t be able to score."

Estrada, who reached 97 goals with a hat trick in a 5-1 victory Jan. 17 at Bishop Union, had to wait nearly two weeks to play a match because of inclement weather resulting in league contests being postponed. But the four-year starter scored twice in the first 20 minutes, and, after Shea Richards increased the lead to 3-0, Estrada took a pass from Garcia and buried a 20-yard shot inside the left post to reach the century mark.

"From the beginning of the game, Jaide kept looking for me, but I didn’t want to be a ball hog," said Estrada, who became the first area player since Village Christian of Sun Valley’s Jessica Gordon (2002-06) — now at San Diego State — to score 100 career goals.

"But playing together for as long as we have, I think it's super cool that she was involved in (No. 100)."

Seven different players scored in the second half for Desert Christian (15-0-1, 8-0), which increased the area’s longest unbeaten streak to 34 in a row entering today’s contest against Mammoth at the Soccer Complex.

"I didn’t want to have any regrets the whole season. I just wanted to do my best, whether I finished with 50 goals or if I scored 100," Estrada said. "Now that it’s (happened), I’m focusing more on the bigger picture because I still want to win CIF with my teammates."