La Canada Dismisses Palmdale

Be careful, you might get what you wish for.

The Palmdale High boys’ soccer team found a sad wisdom to that old adage in the final of the La Canada tournament Thursday night at La Canada High.

Pushing themselves through the tournament’s early rounds with hopes of a title match against the host Spartans, the Falcons had their wish granted--and were then drubbed, 5-1.

Jason Cropley scored twice and Chap Early, Derrick Dyslin and Josh Sweeney each scored once for La Canada, which has won 34 consecutive matches.

The Spartans (9-0), who went undefeated last season and won the Southern Section Division IV championship, were out of sync early but Palmdale (8-1-2) was simply overmatched.

“We were sloppy and uncomposed at the start but we haven’t had a team come after us like Palmdale did,” Spartan Coach Lou Bilowitz said.

The Spartans scored first when Early scored from 15 yards in the 13th minute. La Canada led, 2-0, in the 23rd minute when Early caught Palmdale off-guard with a quick free kick to Dyslin, who scored from close range.

Cropley scored his first goal in the 27th minute and added another in the 41st before Sweeney completed the Spartans’ scoring on a penalty kick.

Palmdale scored on a penalty shot by Murad Dibbini with a minute to play, marking the first goal allowed by the Spartans this season. They have scored 63.