Crescenta Valley Makes Something Out of Nothing

In the San Gabriel Valley, the word powerhouse is associated with Arcadia High, but Thursday night the Apaches met their match when Crescenta Valley forged a 0-0 tie in a Pacific League girls’ soccer game in Glendale.

Arcadia is accustomed to walking through the Pacific League without any resistance, but was fortunate to leave with a tie.

Crescenta Valley (9-2-3, 2-0-1) put on a performance built around a disciplined defense and effective counterattacks.

“We should have won,” said Coach Bud Dain of Crescenta Valley. “We dominated the second half. We were in better shape than they were. I thought we played phenomenal. The next game is going to be . . . . a battle.”

After starting 0-2-1, the Falcons are undefeated in 10 games, including a 2-0 victory over defending Southern Section champion Bishop Montgomery.

The success was as easy as two position changes, moving midfielder Julie Herrold and forward Rebecca Hidalgo to marking backs and pushing them up on attacks.

“Julie and Rebecca were getting double and triple teamed,” Dain said. “They were being marked out of the game. We weren’t getting any shots off. If anything, we did it to confuse the other defenses and it’s worked.”

Arcadia (13-3, 2-0-1) has one of the most successful defenses in Southern California, with a goals against average of 0.28, but needed some last-minute heroics by goalkeeper Darci Carruthers to preserve the tie.

With less than a minute remaining, midfielder Shannon Clissold of Crescenta Valley nearly won the game with a shot from 30 yards, but Carruthers’ one-handed punch save sealed Arcadia’s 14th shutout of the season.

“I thought is was going wide, but I decided to go for it just in case,” said Carruthers, a member of the under-17 regional team who will play at Portland next season.

Clissold nearly won the game in the 58th minute when her direct kick from 25 yards had Carruthers beat but hit the crossbar and bounced in the goalbox, but was cleared away by Arcadia defenders.

“I thought it was going in,” said Clissold. “Shannon Moffat pulled the defense out and it opened the area for me. It curved into the far corner and hit the crossbar.”

After Arcadia outshot Crescenta Valley, 10-3, in the first half, the Falcons took off in the second half by capitalizing on Hidalgo’s speed.

Crescenta Valley outshot Arcadia, 6-1, in the final 20 minutes.

“They deserve a lot of respect,” said Coach Shelby Elliott of Arcadia. “They gave us a battle this game.”