La Cañada girls’ soccer tops Temple City in league opener
LA CAÑADA — After a third-place finish in the Rio Hondo League last season, the La Cañada High girls’ soccer team would like to make a move north in the standings.
Playing without several starters for various reasons in a league-opening game Wednesday against Temple City, La Cañada passed its first test.
Mia LeClerc and Chloe Kouyoumdjian each scored one goal to propel host La Cañada to a 2-0 victory.
“We definitely want to get back to the top and we have a lot of players who are motivated,” said La Cañada goalkeeper Kaitlyn Corral, who had four saves in the shutout. “We started off the season well and we played against top teams in nonleague and tournament games and that will help us be ready for league.
“It’s big to start league off with a win and there’s that much more confidence. We had a lot of people play well today.”
La Cañada (7-3-3) received a first-half goal from LeClerc and a goal in the second half from Kouyoumdjian to put away Temple City (8-5-2) in the first of two head-to-head contests. The teams will meet against Jan. 29 at Temple City.
A corner kick by Ella Romero went to Rosie Quezada, who passed the ball to LeClerc. LeClerc directed the pass from Quezada past goalkeeper Amber Greene in the 15th minute for her first goal of the season.
“We were practicing that play on Tuesday for about 30 minutes,” LeClerc said. “I went to the post and the ball came to me. You always have to be ready.
“I think we were able to communicate well throughout the game. It’s going to be a competitive league again and everybody wants to win it.”
Corral, who helped the Spartans advance to the CIF Southern Section Division V championship in 2014, had to counter a flurry by the Rams about two minutes after LeClerc’s goal.
She made a diving save on a shot near the right post by Alexxis Molinar . A few seconds later, Maddie Kapolo lined a shot just over the crossbar.
“A lot of things happened in that stretch,” said Corral, who had three second-half saves. “I had to move one of my defenders out of the way and the shot came in slow and I was able to push it aside.”
Quezada, a former All-Area pick, had a direct kick strike the crossbar in the 47th minute. The Spartans then received an insurance goal from Kouyoumdjian in the 51st minute, when she dribbled down the left side and beat Greene with a low shot.
Greene finished with eight saves.
The Spartans, under the direction of first-year coach Sam Barroudi following the retirement of Louie Bilowitz, competed without Megan Reilly, Katherine Sheehy and Kallie Rushing. Reilly and Sheehy were sick and Rushing is recovering from a right-foot injury
La Cañada will face visiting San Marino in a league match at 3:30 p.m. Friday. San Marino won the league championship last season.
