Girl’s 4--A Soccer Playoffs : Capistrano Valley Frustrated by West Torrance

The Capistrano Valley High School girls’ soccer team found out early what it was up against in Tuesday’s Southern Section 4-A semifinal match with West Torrance.

During the first 10 minutes of the match, West Torrance goalie Carolyn Hueth made three diving saves. For Capistrano Valley, it marked the beginning of a frustrating afternoon.

When it was over, so was Capistrano Valley’s season, as West Torrance defeated the Cougars, 3-0, at West Torrance.

It was the third consecutive shutout for West Torrance, which plays Mission Viejo in the final Friday at 6 p.m. at Gahr High School.

“The way the match started off, I thought it was going to be a long day,” West Torrance Coach Andy Bonchonsky said. “They were out-hustling us and beating us to every goal. Carolyn (Hueth) allowed us to hang by a thread until our offense got going.”

The match was only five minutes old when Hueth made a diving block of Sarah Stoney’s corner kick. Capistrano Valley’s Ginger Frank controlled the rebound in front of the open net, but her shot sailed wide to the right.

Five minutes later, Capistrano Valley’s Jill Linhart broke free for a shot from the left side, but Hueth dove to her right to make the save. When the ball bounced back to Capistrano Valley’s Brittany Leonard, Hueth dove back to her left block a second shot.

“She (Hueth) was great at getting to the ball in the air and also at smothering shots,” Capistrano Valley Coach Steve Bignal said.

Hueth, a first-team All-Southern Section player last season, finished with 17 saves, and the shots that did get past her went everywhere but into the net.

Four times Capistrano Valley missed open-net shots when Hueth was out of position and another shot hit the cross bar. Capistrano Valley outshot West Torrance, 22-13.

West Torrance took a 1-0 lead at the 15-minute mark of the first half when Teresa Bateman controlled a rebound and pushed a shot past goalie Pam Gladden. West Torrance had second-half goals from Jenny Gritzmacher and Jill Henderson.