Palos Verdes girls look to cap season with a CIF-SS crown
Sea Kings take on Roosevelt in Division 1 final
The Palos Verdes girls soccer team was locked in a battle for the Bay League title for much of this season and landed on the CIF Southern Section Open Division watch list.
“I knew we were on the verge,” Sea Kings coach Joe Flanagan said. “I wasn't disappointed going to Division 1 (in the playoffs). I knew the Open Division was going to be difficult. Some of those teams are a little deeper than us maybe, Los Al, (Mira) Costa, Santa Margarita. We're a little younger group.”
The Sea Kings landed in Division 1 for the playoffs and were given the No.1 seed after finishing second in the Bay League.
“Coaching for the first year, this year, not knowing the group that well coming in and I knew we had some work to do,” Flanagan said. “They've really bought in to what we've done, and I think we've gotten better as the year went along, which I think is important.
“Our defense has played great all season. We haven't given up a lot of goals and we grind through some games. I think it says a lot for this group, first year that we're together, that they've really bought into what we're doing and the group has really come together.”
Before their 4-2 semifinal win over JSerra, Palos
Verdes had won five consecutive one-goal games. The Sea Kings played in 13 onegoal games this season, losing only one.
Palos Verdes has allowed just 21 goals for the season.
“At the beginning of the year, I knew we could beat anyone,” PV sophomore Lane Flanagan said. “We are a very good team. We've done a lot to get to this point.”
Palos Verdes (19-3-1) will face Eastvale Roosevelt (224-1) in the Division 1 final Saturday at 6 p.m. at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach.
Roosevelt has also allowed just 21 goals this season.
Animo boys in second consecutive final
The Animo Leadership boys soccer team is back in a CIF-SS final, this time in Division 3.
Animo (23-1-1) will face Bell Gardens (19-2-3) on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at Veterans Stadium.
Both teams won their league championships: Animo in the Mulholland League and Bell Gardens in the Almont League.
Last season, the Aztec Eagles advanced to the CIFSS Division 5 final.
Animo is averaging 4.12 goals a game and has allowed just 24 goals.
Tickets for the finals
Tickets for the soccer finals can be purchased online at www.gofan.co. They are $12 general admission and for students without I.D.; $5 for students with I.D. and children 5-13. Parking is $5.
The Marine League has strong representation in this week's L.A. City Section boys and girls basketball championships. The Carson and San Pedro boys and the Banning and Gardena girls teams will play for division championships.
Here is a look at each game:
El Camino College, Friday, 4 p.m.
The Panthers finished third in the Marine League and received the top seed in Division IV. Gardena had a pair of easy wins to start the playoffs: 51-8 over Sun Valley Magnet and 65-9 over Diego Rivera. In the semifinals, the Panthers defeated Grant 49-41. Lauren Tobin-Williams leads Gardena with 11.6 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. She scored 15 points in the semifinals and India Cage had 12.
The Pilots finished fourth in the Marine League. They defeated Narbonne for the first time since 1992 and recorded a season sweep. The Pilots are the fourth seed in Division III and have recorded wins over Roosevelt (3937), WISH Academy (66-30) and University Prep Value (40-29), which had defeated the No. 1 seed University in the quarterfinals. The Pilots have three players averaging at least eight points a game: Melony Bernabe (9.8 points), Sara Gonzales (9.7 points) and Alina Argueta (8.7 points).
Bernabe (8.7) leads the Pilots in rebounding. The Dragons are the No. 2 seed.
El Camino College, Friday, 6 p.m.
The Colts finished fifth in the Marine League. They're the No. 2 seed in Division III. Carson has had a relative easy road to the finals with wins over West Adams (91-48), Huntington Park (65-27) and Franklin (88-65). Jacob Ortega scored 37 points for the Colts in the semifinals. Ezekiel Harry had 24 points. Carson will face top-seeded Jordan in the final. The Bulldogs went 12-0 in the Imperial League. They defeated Carson 49-45 on Dec. 23.
The Palos Verdes girls soccer team has had plenty to celebrate this season, winning 20of 23games overall, finishing second in the tough Bay League and reaching Saturday's CIF-SS Division 1 final as the No. 1 seed vs. Eastvale Roosevelt.
Outlook:
Pasadena City College, Saturday, noon Outlook:
Outlook:
El Camino College, Friday, 8 p.m.
The seventhseeded Pirates defeated Hamilton (66-54) in the first round and have followed that with consecutive upsets over No. 2 Granada Hills Charter (60-48) and No. 6 Crenshaw (70-63). Up next are the top-seeded Generals. San Pedro finished second in the Marine League and has used a mix of toughness and hard work on both ends of the court to make the finals run.
Ticket info: Tickets for both locations can be purchased at GoFan.co/ CIFLAC on the City Section website
There is no parking charge at El Camino College (park in Lot H or F). At Pasadena City, parking is $2, park in Lot 3-5.
Outlook:
Parking: