Louisville Sets Up Oak Park for a Setback in Quarterfinals

Louisville High is proof that winning gets easier after Mission League play ends.

The Royals needed to win their final league game of the regular season against Flintridge Sacred Heart to qualify for the playoffs, but have since cruised through postseason play.

Louisville used great execution of set plays to defeat Oak Park, 4-1, Thursday night in a Division IV quarterfinal game at Crespi High.

“The Mission League should have all four teams in the semifinals,” said Coach Jose Perez of Louisville. “Notre Dame should be here, too.

“If you think about who the top four teams are in the division, three of us are in there.”

The Royals (17-8-2) advanced to the semifinals for the first time and meet league rival Chaminade on Tuesday.

“Playing Chaminade would be great for this Valley,” Perez said. “We are ready to play Chaminade.

“Everyone wants to play them bad. I think it’s our time to win.”

The key to Louisville’s victory was defender Carrie Schuler, whose two perfectly struck free kicks were headed in for goals for a 2-0 lead.

The first was a direct kick that was headed in by Megan Merritt in the 39th minute.

The second, a corner kick, was headed in by Jessica Hayman in the 43rd minute.

“Jose feels I can take [free kicks] better than anyone else on the team,” Schuler said.

“We’ve been scoring on them. We have a good amount of players that are good in the air. Once we scored we stepped it up and became more offensive and got good opportunities.”

Jenny Farenbaugh scored her school-record 30th goal of the season to give the Royals a 3-0 lead.

Farenbaugh’s goal came in the 53rd minute when goalkeeper Liz Young swung and missed a ball she was trying to clear out of the penalty area.

Farenbaugh collected the loose ball and placed a shot into the open goal.

Taking a pass from Merritt, Caitlin Behles extended the lead to 4-0.

Cindy Verity scored for the Eagles with under six minutes to play.

The Eagles (19-7-1) didn’t play badly.

Each team took 10 shots, but goalkeeper Kim Morgan came up with three important saves to keep Louisville in control.

“I think the girls were a little nervous at first,” said Coach Ted Eggleston of Oak Park, which was playing in the quarterfinals for the first time.

“It seemed like the first half we were playing tentative. We were afraid to make mistakes. You can’t get down against teams like this.”