PREP ROUNDUP : El Modena Happy With 0-0 Tie Against Canyon

It was a girls’ soccer game that Canyon needed to win. But the tie suited El Modena just fine.

“I will walk away very, very happy from this game,” El Modena Coach Jeff Pearson said after a 0-0 tie in a Century League game Thursday at Yorba Regional Park. “We’re still in first place. Our defense played outstanding and we hung together as a team.”

The tie means El Modena (16-5-1, 6-1-1) maintains its two-point lead over Canyon (11-1-4, 5-1-2) with two games remaining.

Each team finished with 13 shots, but in the second half, Canyon began attacking more aggressively. However, the Comanches could not score on Vanguard goalkeeper Marie Dillon, who had five saves in her 13th shutout in 16 games.

“We needed goals,” Canyon Coach Matt Kinney said. “But their goalkeeper was the player of the game. We still have a shot (at the league title), but it’s in El Modena’s hands now.”

El Modena had the best chance to score in the first half, when a shot by Laurie Zemke hit the crossbar. A header by teammate Kaylee Whitfield off the rebound flew over the goal.

Canyon’s best chance came in the second half when Rochelle Locke had a breakaway. But Dillon came out and cut down her angle at the goal, knocking the ball away.