CIF SOCCER PLAYOFFS Valley Christian boys knock out old but future Olympic League rival in first round

By Loren Kopff

Valley Christian boys soccer head coach Chris Becher got a mini preview of what to expect for at least the next four years when his team hosted Whittier Christian last Thursday in a California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section Division VI first round game. The Crusaders and Heralds, once Olympic League foes, will be reunited once again beginning next season and lasting until at least 2014.
But for now, V.C. has bragging rights over the Heralds following a 3-1 victory that sent the Crusaders into this past Tuesday’s second round game. V.C. had previously defeated the second place representatives from the Alpha League (1-0 on Jan. 5) but that didn’t completely mean Becher was breaking out his scouting report.
“Not because of them, but as the season went on, the high school season is so short and you make adjustments constantly,” Becher said. “The adjustments we did make was we took center [junior] midfielder Daniel Hernandez and put him wide. We also took [senior] Tanner Miller and put him at striker.”
Miller put V.C. in front within the first minute of the game when he followed up on a miss from junior striker Josh Sutherlin. The Crusaders could have made it 2-0 12 minutes later but Sutherlin’s miss on a breakaway was deflected. For the rest of the half, the Crusaders, who finished second in the Olympic League, were stymied by a tough Whittier Christian defense and it would remain that way in the early moments of the second half.
In the 57th minute, freshman midfielder Zac Way took a shot that was a foot over the net. Three minutes later, he headed a ball to junior midfielder Tyler Boer whose shot was just right of the post.
“It was kind of a blue collar goal but I’ll take it,” Becher said of Miller’s goal. “You think going up 1-0 is really good right away, but our guys got lazy. For the next 30 minutes, we couldn’t move the ball around.”
It wasn’t until the 67th minute when the Crusaders began to put the game away. Senior striker Jeriah Dunk, who at 5’ 5” is the shortest player on the field, out leaped Whittier Christian goalkeeper Ariel Ciribe and made it 2-0. Then 10 minutes later, Dunk received a throw in and fed a pass to Hernandez who iced the contest. The only blemish came when Marcus Rojas scored on a penalty kick just seconds before the referees whistled the game over.
V.C. would see its season end in the second round after falling to second ranked and defending CIF champion Mountain View 1-0 in overtime. The Crusaders (11-6-4) lose only three players to graduation and plan to return 76 percent of their goal production from this past season.
DIVISION III GIRLS SOCCER
Chadwick 1, Artesia 0
PALOS VERDES PENINSULA-The up and coming Pioneers battled with the co-champions of the Prep League for the majority of the second half but a goal in the 67th minute proved to be all the Dolphins needed. Artesia, the third place representatives from the Suburban League, took just four shots on goal in the entire game and had to withstand a barrage of golden opportunities from Chadwick that could have easily turned the game into a blowout.
“In the first half, we got lucky,” said Artesia head coach Octavio Marquez. “We started off pretty good, then we kind of fell into their game. They were much bigger and much quicker than us. Fortunately we were able to hold our own. In the second half, we stepped up and played much better than the first half.”
The best chance for the Pioneers (15-8-1) came in the 18th minute when freshman forward Carolina Ornelas received a pass from senior midfielder Martha Rodriguez but missed near the right post. Meanwhile, sophomore goalkeeper Itzel Gonzalez was keeping her team in the game with one gem of a save after another.
Four minutes after the Ornelas miss, Gonzalez punched away a corner kick taken by Channing Press. In the 27th minute, Jamie Soroka got loose on a breakaway but her shot barely sailed above the left corner. Two minutes later, Jayne Woolard took a free kick five yards from the penalty box but Gonzalez batted that shot down. In the 33rd minute, a shot from Press hit the cross bar and five minutes later, Gonzalez punched away yet another corner kick, this time taken from Woolard.
“Itzel is a phenomenal goalkeeper,” Marquez said. “She’s the backbone of our defense.”
The Dolphins continued to put the pressure on in the second half when Press had a shot in the 51st minute miss the cross bar by a foot and Soroka’s breakaway shot two minutes later punched away by Gonzalez. But the fourth corner kick of the game by Chadwick finally worked when Press sent a pass to Jessy Hale who leaped and placed a header in the upper left corner of the net.
Despite the loss, the Pioneers have finally put themselves in a position to contend for a Suburban League title rather than just contend for a playoff spot. Between the 2000-2001 and 2006-2007 seasons, the Pioneers won 36 games and never finished above fourth place. But in the past three seasons, Artesia has gone 35-27-5 and this past season edged league powerhouse Mayfair 2-1 in the biggest upset in league history. Also, the Pioneers went to the playoffs last season for the first time in school history and lost an overtime affair to Laguna Beach 2-1. Artesia also loses just four seniors to graduation and will return six of the top eight leading goal scorers.
“Our program is finally getting to a respectable level,” Marquez said. “Starting five freshmen in the back this year makes a difference. We’ve tried to work hard with these girls to be disciplined and get them to the level of the Mayfair’s and La Mirada’s.”