La Cañada girls’ soccer duo reels in top league accolades

In winning its first Rio Hondo League championship since 2014, the La Cañada High girls’ soccer team could trace much of its success to boasting a steady center back and goalkeeper.

With Ari Aghadjanians and Ashley Messier, the Spartans were able to roll to the league title and qualify for the CIF Southern Section Division III playoffs.

Aghadjanians and Messier were on hand to do their part each match and were bestowed with postseason recognition, as Aghadjanians was tabbed the league’s player of the year and Messier was selected the league’s co-most valuable goalkeeper of the year as voted on by the league’s five coaches.

“They both deserve what they got and they were big for our team throughout the season,” said La Cañada first-year Coach Kevin Neumeier, whose team finished 8-11-3, 5-1-2 in league. “Ari and Ashley handled their roles well and they were there to step it up for the team.

“Ari took it upon herself to lead our defense and she’s got such great field awareness. Ashley always knew how to make the big saves and she never backed down from any challenge.”

Aghadjanians, a senior who played on the La Cañada squad that advanced to the Division V championship match in 2014, scored one goal on the season and helped solidify the Spartans’ stingy defensive unit.

“I had been a center forward the previous year and they needed me to move,” Aghadjanians said. “It didn’t really take too long to make the transition and I got more comfortable with each game played.

“We had some rough times [in nonleague], but then things began clicking in league and we were able to win some games and make the playoffs. I wanted to end my career by winning league again.”

Messier flourished in her first season handling the goalkeeping responsibilities.

The sophomore, who missed all of last season because of an injury, finished with 60 saves despite missing the last three games of the season with a hand injury. She recorded four shutouts in league.

“There are a lot of good goalies in our league and it’s an honor to be recognized like that,” said Messier, who shared the recognition with sophomore Emily Boutin of San Marino. “I was a little surprised because you know who you are going up against.

“I have to give a lot of credit to my defense because they played great in front of me so many times. It’s an honor that I’ll share with them.”

The Spartans yielded just four goals in eight league contests.

Chloe Kouyoumdjian and Charlotte Tapp of La Cañada were named to the first team.

Kouyoumdjian, a junior forward, finished with a team-high seven goals. Six of her goals were scored in league.

“If we needed a goal, she made sure to make it happen,” Neumeier said. “Chloe trusted the process and got good results.”

Tapp, a sophomore midfielder, collected three goals and two assists.

“Charlotte found a way to get the ball from defense to offense,” Neumeier said. “It’s great when you have somebody like her who can control the middle of the field because you can win a lot of games.”

La Cañada’s Ella Romero, Kallie Rushing and Cecily Lowe earned second-team accolades.

Romero, a junior midfielder, finished with two goals and four assists. Rushing, a junior defender, had one goal. Lowe, a sophomore, contributed one goal and six assists as a forward.

La Cañada’s Katie Scoville, a junior defender, and Solenn Matuska, a sophomore midfielder, received honorable mention.

La Cañada lost to Eleanor Roosevelt, 2-1, in overtime in a first-round playoff match.