Valley Soccer : North Hollywood Douses Monroe to Take Sole Possession of First, 1-0

North Hollywood High outlasted Monroe, 1-0, on a drenched field Monday at Monroe to move into sole possession of first place in the Valley Pac-8 Conference boys’ soccer standings.

The win moved the Huskies (8-3-1, 3-0-1 in league play) a half-game ahead of previously unbeaten Monroe (7-1, 3-1).

“It was wet, but the field was in pretty good shape,” North Hollywood first-year Coach Chris Van Duin said. “If it had been at our place, the field would have been a mud bowl. We call ours Astro-dirt.”

Senior forward Pablo Crespo scored the only goal of the match 5 minutes into the second half on an assist from senior halfback Jose Umana.

Junior goalkeeper Leo Gonzalez, who recorded his third shutout, preserved the lead by blocking a penalty kick by Oscar Rios with 15 minutes to play.

Chatsworth 5, Canoga Park 0--Jason Theodoratos, Pethan Tin, Hermann Reyes, Adam Cooper and Ji Kim scored goals for Chatsworth in a one-sided Northwest Valley Conference match at Chatsworth.

Reserve goalkeeper Greg Williams held Canoga Park scoreless in the first half as the Chancellors built a 3-0 lead. Starter Scott Kuhn shut down the Hunters in the second half.

San Fernando 3, Kennedy 2--Sergio Pizano scored all 3 goals for San Fernando with assists from Elenilson Garcia, Jaime Ballesteros and Marco Jaramillo in the Northwest Valley Conference match at Kenendy.

San Fernando led, 1-0, at halftime, but Keith West and Rubin Rios scored for Kennedy early in the second half.

Pizano scored with 10 minutes remaining and again with 3 minutes to play. San Fernando is 6-1-2, 3-0-2 in league play. Kennedy is 3-3-3, 1-1-3.

Grant 3, Birmingham 0--Birmingham, playing without its 4 starting forwards, each sidelined with the flu, was unable to mount a consistent offensive attack in a Valley Pac-8 Conference match at Birmingham.

Birmingham is 6-3, 2-2 in league play.

Reseda 0, Poly 0-Reseda goalkeeper Danny Keeva recorded his fourth shutout of the season in a Valley Pac-8 Conference match at Reseda.

Both teams had 12 shots on goal.

Reseda, the defending City Section champion, is 3-3-3, 0-3-2 in league play.

Cleveland 0, Granada Hills 0--Granada Hills forward Heros Daniels was awarded a penalty kick after being tripped midway through the second half. But Daniels missed the shot and the Northwest Valley Conference match ended in a scoreless tie.

Granada Hills goalkeeper Erick Miseroy blocked 11 shots. Granada Hills took only 5 shots on goal.

Cleveland (3-0-2) remained a half-game ahead of Granada Hills (3-1-1) in the conference standings.

GIRLS

Alemany 3, Chaminade 2--Robyn Renaud scored the winning goal with 2 minutes remaining to give host Alemany a San Fernando Valley League win.

After a scoreless first half, Chaminade’s Maria Costa scored the game’s first goal before Renaud, a junior, and teammate Yvette Lopez each scored to give Alemany (11-6-2, 4-0) a 2-1 lead.

Jenny Roberts added a goal for Chaminade (2-2 in league play) to tie the score before Renaud followed with the game-winner.