Tologs win Six Aside Tournament title again
Whether it’s during the regular season or the CIF Southern Section playoffs, expectations remain high for the Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy soccer team.
Summer is no exception for the Tologs, as the team uses the time frame to remain competitive. So far, the early indications seem to be working in their favor under the direction of new Coach Cesar Hidalgo.
Lindsey Pierson, Miranda Saldivar, Hailey James and Lauren Savo each scored one goal Sunday to lead Flintridge Sacred Heart to a 4-0 victory against Long Beach Poly’s A team in the championship game of the Travis Jackson Six Aside Tournament at the Home Depot Center Complex in Carson.
It marked the second time in three years the Tologs captured the event.
“We feel like we have been showing progress and getting used to winning,” said Flintridge Sacred Heart associate coach Frank Pace, who saw the Tologs post a 3-2 win against Poly on June 10 in the championship match of the Watts Games at the same venue. “The hardest thing to do is teach a team how to win, and we are beating some good teams.
“It’s the first time we’ve won the Watts Games and the Six Aside tournament. It’s important for us because we have a revamped team.”
On Sunday in a rematch with the Jackrabbits, Flintridge Sacred Heart jumped out to a 3-0 first-half lead and added an insurance marker in the second half.
“We were very surprised being up 3-0 at halftime,” Pace said. “We were clicking.
“Poly has a solid goalkeeper, but we passed crisply and we shot the ball well. I thought it would be a much closer game just based off what happened the last time we played them.”
Flintridge Sacred Heart participated in seven 18-minute matches Sunday. It advanced to the championship match with a 4-0 victory against Royal.
“It’s a lot of games, but is measures your skill and mental resolve,” said Pace, who worked with co-Coach Kathy Desmond, to lead the Tologs to the CIF Southern Section Division I championship in 2011. “We’ve been using the summer to evaluate talent.”
In a quarterfinal match, The Tologs received a second-half goal from Pierson to earn a 1-0 win against Peninsula.
Pierson led the Tologs, who finished second in the Mission League last season, with nine goals and James added seven. Savo added five goals for Flintridge Sacred Heart, which got four from Saldivar.
Flintridge Sacred Heart goalkeeper Dani Garcia played all seven games, allowing just three goals. Also participating for the Tologs were Michaela Snashall, Samantha Brown, Claire Kostelnik and Caroline Mc Creary.
The Tologs began the tournament with four pool-play victories. They opened with a 4-0 win against Palos Verdes before notching a 7-0 victory against Sonora. Flintridge Sacred Heart then recorded a 3-1 victory against Long Beach Poly’s B team before earning a 3-2 win against El Segundo.
