Saturday, Mar. 1, 2008

CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION

Final

El Camino Real 4, San Pedro 0
The top-seeded Conquistadores scored in the first minute of each half and added two goals later in the second half at Contreras High to win their eighth consecutive title and 37th consecutive playoff game.

Senior midfielder Megan Quinn scored in the first minute. El Camino Real (13-8-2) scored in the 41st minute when a shot by Quinn went off a Pirate defender and into the net.

Senior midfielder Katie Etcher (48th minute) and junior forward Michelle Somers (70th minute) also scored for the Conquistadores.

Sophomore goalkeeper Cody Kornack made eight saves for her 10th shutout of the season.

"Whenever you give up a goal within the first seconds of each half it sets the tone of the rest of the game," San Pedro Coach Gerhard Weber said after his team, which was seeded third, fell to 18-4. "It puts your team in a mind-set that invites further mistakes and changes the whole momentum for the other team, and it allows them to be more relaxed and invites them to play even more flawless than they already are."

On the first goal, "the team was physically out there but mentally not out there," Weber said.

Quinn said the first goal "opened the floodgates."

-- Steven Herbert

INVITATIONAL DIVISION

Final

Fremont 2, Bell 1
Junior midfielder Biridiana Ortega scored on a 57th minute penalty kick to give the Pathfinders (16-5-2) the victory at Contreras. Fremont had tied the score in the 27th minute on a goal by junior midfielder Cristal Espinoza. Senior defender Maria Diaz scored on a 24th minute penalty kick for Bell.

CITY SECTION FINALS

Small Schools Division

Sherman Oaks CES 2, Foshay 0

Senior midfielder Kristian Sanchez snapped a scoreless tie in 57th minute with a close-range goal and five minutes later junior forward Antonia Aljawani added another goal to give the Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies a 2-0 victory over defending champion Foshay in the City Section girls' soccer Small Schools Division championship game.

But the star for the victorious Knights (15-3) on Friday was senior goalkeeper Samantha Meyer, who unofficially made nine saves. Five of them, including two from point-blank range, came in the first half when the Wolverines (15-5-1) relentlessly pressured the SOCES defense.

Friday's victory was a sweet moment of revenge for Meyer. She was the losing goalkeeper last year when Foshay won the championship, 2-1. The Wolverines' first goal last year came in the sixth minute, and the Knights struggled the rest of that game.

Meyer felt this time, if she could keep the game close or scoreless early, her teammates would break through late.

"We're usually a second-half team," Meyer said. "It's not always the best thing, but today we came through."

-- Mike Terry

Schedules

CITY CHAMPIONSHIP

Championship, Saturday at Contreras, 3:30 p.m.
#1 El Camino Real (12-8-2) vs. #3 San Pedro (18-3)

INVITATIONAL

Championship, Saturday at Contreras, 1 p.m.
#24 Bell (10-7-2) vs. #18 Fremont (15-5-2)

SMALL SCHOOLS

Final, Friday at Contreras, 4:30 p.m.
#1 Foshay (15-4-1) vs. #2 Sherman Oaks CES (14-3)

Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2008

CITY CHAMPIONSHIP

Semifinals

San Pedro 3, Locke 0
Alyssa Mullenhour, Amenaide Brown and Lindsay Potts each scored for San Pedro (18-3-0).

El Camino Real 2, Cleveland 1

INVITATIONAL

Semifinals

Fremont 3, Taft 1
Daisy Torres scored twice and Yesenia Torres, not related, added the other goal for Fremont (15-5-2).

Bell 3, Wilmington Banning 2 (2OT)