Girls’ soccer: Cavaliers don’t mind being the underdogs
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Of the three teams that still have a shot to beat El Camino Real in the City Championship Division playoffs, Cleveland might have the most confidence. Why? Because the Cavaliers have done it once already.
Cleveland handed the Conquistadores their last loss, 2-1, on Jan. 16. Since then, the reigning City champs have reeled off 10 straight victories, including a 4-1 victory over Cleveland in their second West Valley League meeting.
They play the rubber match on Wednesday in the semifinals and Cleveland Coach Hector Ramirez feels all the pressure is on El Camino Real, which is riding a 35-game winning streak in the playoffs.
‘We’re happy to be playing them,’ Ramirez said. ‘We won on our field and they won on theirs. We’re the lowest seed left (No. 12) and they’re the top seed, so we’ve got nothing to lose.’
Playing in the toughest league is also an advantage for Cleveland. ‘Every game is physical,’ he said. ‘We have to be physical or else we’d get dominated.’
That physicality was never more evident than in Friday’s 3-1 quarterfinal upset of No. 4 Palisades in which Ashani McGee scored all three Cleveland goals. ‘We surprised them,’ Ramirez said. ‘I don’t think they were expecting that from a fourth-place team.’
The winner of the other semifinal between No. 7 Locke and No. 3 San Pedro might also get a crack at the Conquistadores, but that team will have to wait its turn.
‘We’ve played the best and beaten the best,’ Ramirez said. ‘Who can we fear?’
-- Steve Galluzzo