Girls’ Roundup : Mission Viejo Eliminates Edison

The marquee in front of Edison High School notes that the Southern Section 4-A girls’ soccer championship is Friday. But Edison, a defending co-champion, will not be there.

Undefeated Mission Viejo, the tournament’s top-seeded team, advanced to the final for the second straight year with a 3-0 victory over the Chargers in a semifinal match Tuesday at Edison.

Last season, the Diablos and Chargers met in the final. The match ended in a 1-1 tie, and the teams were declared co-champions.

But Mission Viejo (26-0-1) ended the suspense early this time. Less than a minute into the match, Diablo fullback Sheri Bertell dribbled the length of the sideline and lofted a shot from 25 yards out that went in over the head of Edison goalkeeper Jill Worden.

“In all honesty, I thought maybe she meant to cross the ball,” said Hiram deFries, Mission Viejo coach. “We do try to set her up because she’s the fastest girl on our team.”

Mission Viejo added a goal when Stacey Hopper scored on a header off a corner kick later in the first half.

Steph Cox headed in a rebound in the second half, making it 3-0. Worden had tipped Julie Foudy’s shot out of the goal, but Cox pushed in the ball in the scramble afterward.

Play was interrupted for about 20 minutes in the second half because of an injury to Mission Viejo’s Kerri Kennedy, who sustained a blow to the forehead on the play. Kennedy was carried away from the sidelines later in the match.

Mission Viejo will play second-seeded Torrance (22-2-4) for the championship at 6 p.m. Friday at Gahr High School in Cerritos.

Edison was outshot, 10-4, and the Chargers never threatened seriously.

“There was pressure, but we had nothing to lose,” said Colleen Silva, Edison co-coach. “I wish we’d played just a little bit better.”

Edison, which was seeded fourth, finished 18-4-4.

Torrance defeated third-seeded Upland, 1-0, in the other semifinal.

Mission Viejo beat Torrance, 4-0, earlier this season in the final of the Ocean View tournament, but deFries said he did not expect an easy game.

Silva and Renee Nadon announced earlier that this was their final season as Edison coaches. In six years, their teams were 124-18-17. They reached the 4-A semifinals three straight years, including last year.

In a 3-A semifinal:

Alemany 2, Los Alamitos 0--Lisa Gill and Shannon Lambert scored goals as Alemany eliminated the Griffins (21-2-4) in a 3-A semifinal at Alemany.