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Seven area soccer players garner All-CIF accolades

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A contingent of area girls’ and boys’ soccer players got plenty accomplished throughout the season, helping them stand out and thus catch the attention of opposing coaches.

Each athlete greatly contributed in their role, helping their respective teams qualify for the CIF playoffs.

In all, seven area players were bestowed with All-CIF first-team recognition after the CIF Southern Section office unveiled its lists in all seven divisions Monday.

Madison Leroy and Jillian Willis of Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy and Flintridge Prep’s Mckenna Dominguez and Mikaela Celeste picked up nods on the girls’ side, while Silas Chavez and Spencer Harris of Flintridge Prep and St. Francis’ Luis Granados earned honors on the boys’ stage.

Leroy and Willis helped Flintridge Sacred Heart (14-5-3, 3-2-3 in the Mission League for second place) advance to the CIF Southern Section Division III championship match, falling, 1-0, to top-seeded Oak Hills. However, second-seeded Flintridge Sacred Heart stormed back to capture the CIF Southern California Regional Division III title with a 3-0 win against No. 5 Culver City.

Leroy, a sophomore midfielder, finished with 25 goals and nine assists for 59 points.

“She’s got that God-given talent to play the game and everything came natural for her,” Flintridge Sacred Heart coach Mark Snashall said. “She works hard at everything and she likes facing challenges.”

Willis, a senior forward, collected 22 goals and 14 assists for 58 points.

“It’s about determination with her,” Snashall said. “She knows how to get to the open spots and find a way to score that big goal, something she did a lot of throughout the year.”

Dominguez and Celeste enjoyed huge seasons to help Flintridge Prep win the Prep League championship while competing in Division II.

Dominguez, a sophomore forward, registered 36 goals and 35 assists for 107 points for the Rebels (22-1-1, 10-0).

“She’s so talented and unselfish,” said Flintridge Prep coach Esteban Chavez, whose team fell to Moorpark in the second round of the playoffs. “She never stops working and I’ve seen a lot of improvement.”

Celeste, a senior midfielder, notched 28 goals and 43 assists for 99 points.

“She’s done so much for the program over the last four years,” Chavez said. “It starts with her determination.”

For the boys, Silas Chavez and Harris helped Flinjtridge Prep win a second straight Prep League championship. The Rebels went 14-7-1, 5-1 in league before reaching the second round of the Division VI playoffs, falling to Pacific, 3-0.

Silas Chavez, a sophomore midfielder/forward, collected 14 goals and 17 assists.

“He broke through and had a lot of assists,” said Esteban Chavez, who also coaches the boys’ squad. “He also scored goals in a lot of the important games.”

Harris finished with two goals and six assists as a senior defender.

“He’s the heart of the team and he came through a lot,” Esteban Chavez said. “He was lights out and he led by example.”

Granados, a junior goalkeeper, had five shutouts and averaged about 11 saves per match for St. Francis (10-9-4, 5-4-3 for third place in the Mission League).

St. Francis lost to Newbury Park, 1-0, in the first round in Division II.

“We’ve had a lot of excellent goalies come though St. Francis and you can add Luis to that list,” St. Francis coach Glen Appels said. “I was very impressed with what he did out there and he’ll be even hungrier and physically stronger next season.”

charles.rich@latimes.com

Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich

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