Schaefer, Flintridge Prep girls’ soccer begin regionals with rout
LA CAÑADA — A few days after winning its first CIF Southern Section Division III championship, the Flintridge Prep girls’ soccer team was all business entering its CIF Southern California Regional Division III opening-round match Tuesday.
With standouts Helen Schafer and Julia Gonzalez paving the way, top-seeded Flintridge Prep began its quest for the triple crown with a 14-1 win against eighth-seeded Narbonne at St. Francis High’s Friedman Field.
Schaefer finished with seven goals and three assists and Gonzalez collected two goals and four assists for Flintridge Prep (25-4-2). Flintridge Prep, which won the Prep League championship, will meet fifth-seeded Corona Centennial in a semifinal match at 3 p.m. Thursday at the Glendale Sports Complex. Corona Centennial posted a 6-0 road win against fourth-seeded Independence on Tuesday.
“It was definitely a super high on Saturday,” said Flintridge Prep coach Esteban Chavez, whose team earned a 3-1 win against Garden Grove Pacifica in the championship match. “There’s a lot of discipline amongst our players and it’s just a question of how well do they respond?
“I like the way we are playing and it’s going to get tougher the rest of the way.”
Schaefer, the reigning All-Area Girls’ Soccer Player of the Year, opened the scoring in the fifth minute and scored again to make it 2-0 about three minutes later. Makenna Dominguez made it 3-0 in the ninth minute off a pass from Gonzalez. Schaefer completed the hat trick off an assist from Gonzalez in the 11th minute to extend the lead to 4-0.
“It felt good to get back out there,” Schaefer said. “We’e on a high from winning CIF and you come into the next round and you don’t want to take anything for granted.
“I thought we did a real good job in a lot of different areas and you can see the confidence of the team. We had a good practice Monday and we knew we had to turn things around to be ready for this game. It was a great environment and you just get locked in to what you need to do.”
Flintridge Prep, which has won 21 straight matches and extended its unbeaten streak to 25, also got first-half goals from Schaefer (17th minute), Gonzalez (21st minute), Mikaela Celeste (23rd minute), Sabine Fregoso (27th minute) and Ella Treinen (30th minute) to build a 9-0 halftime lead.
Schaefer made it 10-0 in the 43rd minute and Gonzalez tallied to make it 11-0 in the 50th minute. Schaefer scored a pair of goals three minutes apart to give the Rebels a 13-0 lead.
Flintridge Prep made it 14-0 on a goal by Madison Bradfield in the 65th minute.
Narbonne (13-9-1), which won the L.A. City Section Division II title, got a goal from Jassmin Ortiz with five minutes left.
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
