Griffins’ comeback season ends in first round of playoffs
PALMDALE — The Palmdale Aerospace Academy almost didn’t field a girls soccer team because of lack of players for the second year in a row.
So, winning the Heritage League championship title and reaching the first round of the playoffs already seemed like a plus for the Griffins.
Their CIF-Southern Section Division 6 first-round game didn’t end quite how the Griffins’ had hoped as they lost to Estancia 5-0 on Wednesday at TPAA.
“I’m proud of the girls,” TPAA coach Vic Otieno said. “It wasn’t the end we wanted, but at the same time it was great to have this type of game today.”
The Griffins (8-4) had just 10 players come out for tryouts before this season started. It was reminiscent of last season when there were just seven players committed to the team and the season was canceled.
“I honestly thought it wasn’t going to happen again for my senior year,” TPAA senior Emily Velasquez said. “But, I thought, why not, last year, give it a try. We came from the bare minimum all the way to the top and I’m really proud of my girls.”
Some inexperienced players joined to fill out the team. Even when the team had enough players for the season, the year looked questionable.
“I also expected that there wasn’t going to be a team,” TPAA sophomore goalkeeper Savannah Gutierrez said. “Thankfully, my mom convinced me to go try out. We had a team — I doubted them at first, to be honest. … But they came out strong and won the league title.”
The girls came together and were able to win the Heritage League title with a 7-1 record, essentially picking up right where they left off as league champions.
“I’m honestly really grateful for them and for them being able to give me a senior year and to finish it off with soccer,” Velasquez said. “It sucks (to lose), but I’m very grateful and I was happy.”
With just four seniors on the team — Velasquez, Sofia Gonzalez, Cindy Larios and Kelly
Ventura — the Griffins are a young squad that includes seven freshmen, five sophomores and five juniors.
They met up with a senior-heavy squad in Estancia, which boasts nine seniors.
“A lot more experience, I say,” Velasquez said. “I could tell they worked a lot harder. I mean, obviously, we did too, but you can tell that this is from the heart. …
“I think, overall, it was a good team, it was a good competition and a good experience for us and for the girls younger than me to overcome what’s going to happen next.”
The Eagles (8-6-4) had a nearly impenetrable back line, which allowed just a few shots on goal for the Griffins.
“Our back line, I thought they played really well,” Estancia coach Josh Juarez said. “I think they controlled the game very well, they kept everything in front of them and I think they set the tone for the team.”
Palmdale Aerospace had two solid chances to score, one in each half.
TPAA junior Sanai Hunter went one-on-one with Estancia senior goalkeeper Sofia Kehoe in the first half, but her close-range shot somehow went wide left.
Hunter then nearly had an assist as she set up a shot on a cross to a teammate. But the ball rolled weakly into the hands of Estancia’s third goalkeeper
of the game, freshman Melissa Cruz.
Kehoe, freshman Abigail McIntyre and Cruz combined for the shutout victory for the Eagles.
The Griffins, meanwhile, had just one goalkeeper, Gutierrez, who is normally a defender.
“Being the only keeper on the team, it was really frustrating,” she said. “I was down on myself a lot, but my captain always brought me up and my teammates always brought me up.”
She had several saves during the match.
“She did really great,” Otieno said.
Estancia reached the first round after a 1-0 wild-card win over Los Amigos, scoring near the end for the win. But the Eagles got on the board within the first two minutes of Wednesday’s contest and added two more quick goals in the first half to take 3-0 halftime lead.
“I think the goal for playoffs is just to play a little bit better with each game and I thought we played a little bit better today then we did in the wild-card game,” Juarez said. “The goal will be Friday to play a little bit better than we did today.”
The Eagles were always positioned perfectly to get second-chance shots in for goals. Freshman Jana Akins scored Estancia’s third goal off a shot that hit the crossbar and ricocheted right into her foot path.
The Eagles’ fourth goal came after a corner kick and the fifth goal was scored right before the final whistle sounded after some commotion in front of the goal.
“Our forwards were a lot more creative in this game and they created a lot more opportunities for us,” Juarez said. “We talk about picking up the trash around the goal and so I thought we picked up the trash around the goal today.”
Stephanie Lomas, Vanessa Pastrana and Sarah Hernandez also scored for the Eagles, who will host Ramona in the second round on Friday. Ramona also won 5-0 in its first-round match.
Otieno was glad his team got to experience and go up against a quality team, which he hopes will help for next year.
“I think it’s a good lesson,” Otieno said. “I think it’s great for us and I think it’s great for the players and also for the school to see the different quality of teams. At the end of the day, they learned there is always room for improvement. Just because you are a champion in the league, doesn’t mean you’re going to go win CIF. There’s always somebody out there.”
Otieno was also thankful to his assistant coach Hannah Haas for helping get the young team ready for the season.
“She also kept the girls in check,” Otieno said. “She knew what I was teaching and what we were trying to accomplish and we really worked together to get the girls where they are right now.”
The younger players are excited about returning and hopeful about having more success next year.
“I’m very excited,” Gutierrez said. “I hope the incoming freshmen are ready to bring their A-game and the returning players are ready to try again to come CIF once more and succeed. Maybe get farther than we did this year.”