Palmdale Wins With One Swift Kick

For the first 79 minutes in the championship game of the Hart High boys’ soccer tournament on Tuesday, Kim Britton of Palmdale ran and jumped, alternately defending the Falcon goal and launching shots at the Canyon net.

Twenty seconds before regulation time was to give way to overtime, Britton was rewarded, scoring out of a goalmouth scramble to give Palmdale a 1-0 victory.

Britton’s goal capped a spirited, if not stylish, game in which the teams spent much of their time kicking the ball downfield in the hope that a forward would gain control.

A sloped, rutted field combined with the teams’ physical brand of play meant few passing combinations could be made.

“They were pressuring us a lot and we knew not to hold the ball too long,” said Britton, Palmdale’s sweeper and Golden League player of the year last season. “We just tried to clear it away and toward [the corners of the field].”

Palmdale (8-6), Golden League champion three of the past four seasons, suffered a 2-0 loss to Cleveland in the 1995 tournament final.

Canyon (8-4) finished in the bottom half of the Foothill League last season but appears poised for a resurgence.

The Cowboys squandered several excellent scoring chances and midfielder Jimmy Giordano repeatedly sent free kicks wide of the Palmdale goal.

“I thought we played excellent but they made the most of one of their opportunities and we didn’t,” Giordano said. “It was one of those days.”

Royal 3, Damien 2--The Highlanders trailed, 2-0, with three minutes to play in regulation at the Don Lugo tournament, but goals by Jake Van Sloten and Dan Wilson sent the game to overtime.

John Hiatt scored 10 minutes into overtime for Royal (12-2-1).

Birmingham 2, Lincoln 0--Mario Osorio and Erick Reyes scored and the Braves (10-0) won the Birmingham tournament.

GIRLS

Chatsworth 2, Hart 2--Leila Pate scored for the Chancellors with five minutes left in regulation and following a scoreless overtime, Chatsworth (11-1-1) won a shootout, 4-3, to claim the Hart tournament title.

Michelle Durando’s goal gave Hart (9-2-2) a 1-0 halftime lead before Beezy Preis tied the match for Chatsworth.

Hart took a 2-1 lead with 10 minutes left in regulation on Mandy Stupar’s goal.

In the shootout, Chatsworth’s winning shot came from Erica Frechman. The Chancellors had two prior opportunities to win during the shootout but Jackie Fodor and Shannon DeVos missed shots.

Chatsworth goalkeeper Tina Essington stopped three Hart shots during the shootout.

“I was kind of scared going [to shoot] but [Essington] had taken a lot of pressure off me by making a save right before I shot,” Frechman said.

Agoura 1, Louisville 0--Julie Koppell scored with 10 minutes left for the Chargers (8-3-1) in the third-place game of the Hart tournament.