St. Bonaventure Turns Tables on Oak Park, 2-0

Determined to atone for an earlier embarrassment, St. Bonaventure High dominated Tri-Valley League rival Oak Park on Thursday in a 2-0 victory in a Southern Section Division IV girls’ quarterfinal at St. Bonaventure.

The Seraphs (23-2-1) suffered a surprising 4-0 loss to the Eagles (12-9-2) earlier this month in the second round of league play. They were determined not to repeat their mistakes.

“They gave us the shot in the arm we desperately needed with that game,” said St. Bonaventure Coach Rod Mendoza, whose team won the teams’ first meeting, 4-1. “Today we weren’t taking any chances.”

Oak Park had no chance from the opening whistle. The Eagles were outshot, 9-1, in the first half and rarely crossed midfield. Mendoza substituted liberally in the second half and St. Bonaventure finished with a 13-5 shot advantage.

The Seraphs took a 1-0 lead in the 27th minute when Chrissy Pike’s throw-in bounced off the hands of Eagle goalkeeper Julie Jensen and Christina Gonzalez kicked it in from a yard for her 15th goal.

St. Bonaventure scored two minutes after halftime when Tyler Bruno headed Pike’s throw off the left post and into the net from the center of the Oak Park penalty area.

Asked how his team, which finished second to St. Bonaventure in league play, managed its earlier rout of the Seraphs, Oak Park Coach Ted Eggleston smiled.

“Everything we did that night worked,” he said. “But St. Bonaventure is big and strong and fast. We’re more of a scrappy team, so they were able to push us off the ball.”

St. Bonaventure, the division’s fourth-seeded team, posted its 21st shutout and will play High Desert League champion Paraclete in a semifinal at Paraclete on Tuesday. The Seraphs defeated the Spirits, 2-0, in a quarterfinal last season and by the same score earlier this season in a nonleague game.