Top-seeded Flintridge Prep girls’ soccer upended by South Torrance in CIF quarterfinal
Finding a groove has mostly led to the Flintridge Prep girls’ soccer team enjoying a wealth of postseason success.
It’s culminated largely in deep playoff runs and one CIF championship in the past few seasons.
It’s been a different story this postseason for the young Rebels, who looked to advance to the semifinals for the second time in the last three seasons.
Locked in a scoreless tie early in the second half, top-seeded Flintridge Prep surrendered four second-half goals and suffered a 4-1 road loss to South Torrance on Wednesday in a CIF Southern Section Division III quarterfinal match.
Flintridge Prep (23-2-1) yielded a hat trick to Alyssa Lubba of South Torrance (20-4-1) in the second half to derail Flintridge Prep’s bid for a second CIF crown in the last three seasons.
“It’s a big field and we struggled the first 20 minutes of the game,” said Flintridge Prep coach Esteban Chavez, whose team won the Prep League championship before posting playoff victories against Santa Barbara and Quartz Hill. “We just couldn’t get going.
“We were starting five freshmen today and they were able to get a lot of good experience. It’s tough right now, but we have a bright future.”
South Torrance, which won the Pioneer League crown and earned playoff wins versus Sonora and Alta Loma, had two shots hit the crossbar in the first half. Flintridge Prep had a goal from Natalie Brown expunged via an offisde call.
The action gave way to an entertaining 40-minute second half.
South Torrance took a 1-0 lead in the 44th minute when Nicollete Wyrick took a pass from Anabella Hiraga and beat Flintridge Prep goalkeeper Ana Bozzi McKay (eight saves).
After South Torrance had a goal disallowed on an offside call in the 46th minute, Flintridge Prep tied it at 1 on a goal by Brown in the 53rd minute past South Torrance goalkeeper Chloe Blankenship (eight saves).
It marked the first goal the Spartans, who won three CIF titles between 1998-2017, had given up in the playoffs.
“We got it to 1-1 and we just needed to play our game,” Brown said. “South Torrance is a big and physical team and they knew how to control the ball in the midfield and that made it tough for us most of the game.”
South Torrance responded immediately, getting a goal from Lubba in the 56th minute to take a 2-1 lead.
The Spartans extended their lead to 3-1 when Lubba directed a corner kick past Bozzi McKay in the 60th minute.
Lubba closed out the scoring by completing her hat trick with about three minutes left.
“When it got to 2-1, we needed to start taking some risks,” Chavez said. “When it got to 3-1, it made it very difficult. South Torrance took advantage of their opportunities.”
South Torrance coach Ronaldo Teixiera said the Spartans stayed patient heading into the second half after just missing several chances in the first half.
“The key for us was being able to create chances,” Teixiera said. “We just missed capitalizing on some opportunities in the first half.
“We felt very confident going in the second half. We were able to do well with our transition game and that helped a lot. It’s hard to beat a No. 1 seed. You just have to remember the preparation it takes going into a game.”
