SOUTHERN SECTION DIVISION I GIRLS’ SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP : Marina Finds Little Consolation in a Tie

They carried their plaques like weights.

After the Marina girls’ soccer team played Claremont to a 1-1 tie for the Southern Section Division I co-championship at Cerritos Gahr Friday night, the Vikings’ were presented with CIF plaques and Claremont took home the section medals, until duplicates of both can be sent to their respective schools.

Rather than holding them high above their heads, Marina almost seemed burdened by theirs.

“We feel we should have won,” said Amy Peterson, one of three Marina seniors. “We just got unlucky.”

She traced third-seeded Marina’s lack of luck to its own boggled opportunities more than to Claremont’s skills.

“As forwards, we didn’t hustle, we weren’t getting back (in position),” said Peterson, who scored her team’s only goal. “But (Claremont) didn’t seem good enough to be in CIF. They played a lot of long ball.”

Still, Peterson realized that a co-championship will probably look a little better this morning, once the sting of the tie has worn off.

“You still feel happy,” she said. “It’s not like we lost.”

Marina Coach Bobby Bruch acknowledged that his team wasn’t converting scoring chances in front of the goal, but he wasn’t nearly as hard on his team as his players were.

“I’m very proud of what they’ve accomplished,” he said. “They’ve improved every game. They accomplished every goal they set out to do.”

Aside from a few botched attempts on both sides, anyone who left the stands after the first 20 minutes of the first half wouldn’t have missed much.

Claremont, the No. 2 team from the Baseline League, opened scoring 10 minutes into the game when junior forward Jennifer Bivens took a corner kick from sister Kylie Bivens and surprised Marina goalkeeper Jennifer Simmons. The ball didn’t appear to make it into the net, but officials signaled the goal was good.

Marina (19-4-4) stormed back nine minutes later and scored on its corner kick. Senior midfielder Sarah Heilman fought for possession of the ball at midfield and took it up field to set up the kick. Sophomore defender Marcy Crouch took the kick and the ball found its way to Peterson. She was standing at the mouth of the goal and headed it in.

Unseeded Claremont (22-1-5) could have broken the tie late in regulation on a direct kick, but the kick was wide to the right.

In the two 10-minute overtime periods, Marina had another pair of missed opportunities late in the second session, but one kick sailed wide and a header by Peterson, with her back to the goal, was too high.

If the Vikings had their way, they would have played all night to break the tie.

“I wish we could have gone to a sudden death, a shootout, something,” said Peterson. “I think someone should win.”