La Cañada girls’ soccer’s playoff run ends in quarterfinals
LA CAÑADA — An impressive postseason run came to an end for the La Cañada High girls’ soccer team Friday.
After blanking its first two opponents, La Cañada soared to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2014 and found itself hosting Ventura on Friday in a CIF Southern Section Division IV matchup.
However, the Spartans’ defense was far from its dominant form displayed in the first two rounds as La Cañada saw its playoff journey derailed after surrendering three first-half goals in a 3-0 defeat to Ventura.
“It’s very hard to get to the quarterfinals,” said La Cañada coach Kevin Neumeier, whose team placed second in the Rio Hondo League before earning 1-0 playoff victories against Temescal Canyon and Valley Christian. “You realize you did a lot of good things just to get this far and we had a great run.
“It’s about coming together and making things happen. We just ran into a very good team and we made a few mistakes that cost us. Overall, there’s a lot to be proud of and it’s a good experience for the players who will be coming back next year. We lose a lot of seniors, but we have a good young core coming back.”
Ventura (16-4-3) created plenty of problems for La Cañada (12-7-5) with its speed. It led to a pair of goals off counter-attacks by the Cougars, who won the Channel League and came into Friday’s match fresh off a 6-0 win against Bishop Montgomery.
Ventura took a 1-0 lead in the seventh minute. Cassidy Hubert dribbled down the left side and lofted a 20-yard shot by La Cañada goalkeeper Ashley Messier to make it 1-0.
“It kind of came off a counter-attack and [Hubert] got off that shot that went in,” Neumeier said. “We weren’t able to play mistake-free, especially in the first half.
“We didn’t settle down until it was 2-0.”
Ventura made it 2-0 on a goal by Payton Erickson in the 17th minute.
La Cañada’s best scoring opportunity came in the 29th minute on a shot by Sidney Hwang that the Ventura goalkeeper batted over the crossbar.
The Cougars closed out the scoring on a goal by Hubert with about six minutes remaining in the first half.
Ventura limited La Cañada to two shots on goal in the match. Messier finished with seven saves.
“They have a lot of speed,” La Cañada senior Mia LeClerc said. “We tried to get past their midfielders and they would block us.
“We had a real good run and it’s definitely hard to win in the playoffs. We’re happy to have gotten this far. I had never gotten this far before in the playoffs.”
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
