Crescenta Valley Girls Are Hart-Breakers, 2-0

When the final whistle blew, Hart High girls’ soccer players were left scattered all over the field, some lying face first on the ground, others crouched with their hands covering their faces and the rest looking toward the sky in disbelief.

The Indians (12-6-1) thoroughly dominated but it was Crescenta Valley that scored the goals in a 2-0 victory in the first round of the Southern Section Division I playoffs Saturday.

“I was scared to death,” said Coach Bud Dain of Crescenta Valley, whose team has outscored opponents, 115-18. “They had total control of the game. We were lucky to beat them, 2-0.

“They crushed us. They embarrassed us in the first half.”

Hart, which shared the Division II championship last season, may have also lost its coach.

Coach Costa Nicolaou was in Phoenix with the Olympic Development Program, leaving assistant Carlos Godoy in charge. Godoy said Nicolaou has left the team indefinitely and he will take over as coach next season.

“I feel real terrible,” Godoy said. “The head coach isn’t here and I only had one day to prepare them. This is a time to reorganize. I have to build this program for the future.”

Julie Herrold and Melanie McCauley scored second-half goals for the Falcons, but the goals didn’t come easy.

The Falcons (17-4-3) were pinned in their half of the field for 80% of the game and when Rebecca Hidalgo was sent off after she received her second yellow card in the 50th minute, things got worse.

But the Falcons took a 1-0 lead in the 60th minute when Shannon Clissold’s free kick bounced inside the six-yard box and deflected off a defender to Herrold who knocked the ball into the net.

“The girl in front of me mis-cleared it,” Herrold said. “The goalie probably should have stopped it but it went though her hands.”

The Falcons, who lost to Hart, 5-1, earlier in the season, scored again in the 69th minute when McCauley headed in Clissold’s cross from a free kick.

“There was a hole right there,” McCauley said. “It was perfect.”

The Falcons survived a miserable first half. By the time the Falcons took their first shot, in the 26th minute, the Indians had already unleashed 10 shots, but bad aim kept the game scoreless.

The Indians (12-6-1) had a chance to score in the 25th minute, but a heads up play by goalkeeper Jennifer Burke of Crescenta Valley kept Crescenta Valley even.

Becca Gould of Hart scored on a free kick from 40 yards but Gould didn’t realize the kick was indirect and the goal was disallowed. Burke knowingly let the ball into the goal.

“I think Hart set the tone for our season,” Dain said. “It was after they beat us, 5-1, that we turned things around.”

Crescenta Valley hosts Claremont on Tuesday in round two.

* Roundup of Saturday’s soccer playoff games. PAGE 17