Sports Roundup: St. Francis, Hoover boys’ soccer fall in first round
BOYS’ SOCCER
Paramount 4, St. Francis 2: In a sense, the rains never stopped for St. Francis.
That seemed to be the case starting Thursday and carrying through to the Golden Knights’ 4-2 loss to host Paramount on Monday afternoon in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division I tournament.
Three days removed from driving all the way to play Paramount on Friday only to have the match postponed, the Golden Knights (10-8-4, Mission League fourth place) saw a one-goal, first-half lead dissipate. A controversial tying goal began a span in which Paramount (18-4-2, San Gabriel Valley League champion) scored four consecutive goals to win.
“It was just a huge momentum shift,” St. Francis Coach Glen Appels said. “If [the official] calls that possession, I don’t think things get away from us.
[Paramount] is a talented team, there’s a reason they’re ranked No. 5.”
Leading, 1-0, St. Francis allowed the game-tying goal when Golden Knights goalkeeper Michael Bazarevitsch pinned down the ball, but had it kicked free from his grasp by a Paramount player for a score, Appels said.
St. Francis took a 1-0 lead when Riley Baz was fouled and drew a penalty kick, which was converted by Liam Snashall.
Down, 4-1, St. Francis scored its last goal of the season when Christian Ibarra blasted home a rebound off a Mateo Ramirez free kick.
The game was originally scheduled for Friday. On Thursday, Appels said St. Francis had communicated with Paramount that the game was unlikely to be played on Friday.
However, on Friday afternoon Paramount notified St. Francis that the game, scheduled for a 5 p.m. start, was going to be played, so the Golden Knights traveled to play, but upon arrival were told by the officials that the field was unplayable.
St. Francis was hopeful of a Saturday game, but Paramount chose to reschedule for Monday. The game eventually started at 3:15 p.m., even though CIF scheduled start times were 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.
Glendora 3, Hoover 1: Returning to the postseason for the first time since 2010, the Tornadoes were unable to hold onto a late lead in Monday’s first-round match in the CIF Southern Section Division IV tournament at Citrus College.
Hoover (14-7-4, third place in the Pacific League) took a 1-0 lead with 17 minutes to go when Kevin Mirzakhanian scored off an Iurii Airapetian assist.
But the Tornadoes gave up a goal with 13 minutes remaining to tie it and the game-winner with six minutes to go.
Glendora (13-5-2, Palomares League champion) scored again with time winding down after Hoover had pushed everyone up.
“It was a great season, an improvement from last year,” Tornadoes Coach Ace Metallinos said. “Our goal was to make the playoffs and we achieve that by getting a third-place finish and we hope to build on that next year.”
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Antelope Valley 60, Glendale Community College 36: Glendale wrapped up its season Saturday with a Western State Conference East Division road loss.
California Community College Athletic Assn. playoff brackets were released on Sunday with Antelope Valley, which shared the division title with Santa Monica, garnering the 17th and final seed. Glendale finished third.
Glendale (16-12, 6-4 in division) got a game-high 17 points from Katia Dabbaghian. Luna Panosian had five points, eight rebounds and four assists.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Antelope Valley College 116, Glendale Community College 74: The Vaqueros wrapped up their season Saturday with a Western State Conference East Division road defeat. It marked the most points yielded this season by Glendale, which trailed, 66-29, at halftime.
Glendale (13-14, 3-7 in the division for fifth place) received 18 points each from Dom Gully and Serigne Athj and 12 from Jack Karapetyan, who added seven rebounds and three assists. Jordan Mathews scored 10 points and added five rebounds.