Sea Kings unable to hold off Roosevelt in Division 1 final
LONG BEACH >> When Joe Flanagan took over as coach of the Palos Verdes girls soccer program before the start of this season, he felt the Sea Kings were two or three years away from making a run to a CIF Southern Section final.
“To get here in the first year was great,” Flanagan said Saturday. “Last year we were a .500 team and here we are in the CIF Finals. I don't think we expected to be here this year.”
Palos Verdes fell just short of winning the championship, losing 3-2 to Eastvale Roosevelt in the Division 1 final at Long Beach Veterans Memorial Stadium.
PV led 2-1 and came within moments from etching its place in history.
Roosevelt senior midfielder Sophia Leoro had other ideas as her clutch appearance in the box following a scramble from a corner kick ended with the ball in the net and the score tied at 2-2 going into stoppage time.
Eight minutes later, six minutes into stoppage time, sophomore forward Ireland Churchill scored her second goal of the game to break PV's hearts and lift the Mustangs to the title.
“We thought we could come back,” Churchill said. “We've been down before and coming back is a thing we do.”
The Sea Kings took a two-goal lead 20 minutes into the game after sophomore forward Gemma Pappas added to junior defender Maddy Herniter's fifth-minute opener.
Churchill's back-post tap-in goal five minutes later cut the PV lead in half and proved crucial in the Mustangs' comeback. The goal kept the Sea Kings at arm's length for the Mustangs, who went on to hold PV scoreless for the rest of the game.
“We did really well throughout the whole game,” Palos Verdes senior midfielder Madi Steinbach said. “Then it's just unfortunate what happened the last five minutes.
“Tough loss but I'm really proud of my team because I think everyone gave everything and we tried our best.”
Despite the loss, Flanagan said PV will come out better in the long run after “the taste” of winning throughout the season and in the playoffs. With plenty of key members returning next season, including sophomore midfield playmaker Lane Flanagan and lethal goal scorer Pappas, the Sea Kings will be a team to look out for in the 2024-25 season.
The Palos Verdes girls basketball team officially has transformed from a threewin team to a CIF Southern Section champion.
The Sea Kings, the top seed in Division 4A, defeated Eastside 57-46 in Saturday's final at Toyota Arena in Ontario.
Maddie Farnsworth led PV (24-7) with 35 points. She also had three rebounds, three assists, seven steals and two blocks.
PV, which went 3-20 last year, started the season 13-0 and coach Daniel Rho said that made him to rethink the goals for the season.
“Our goal before the season was to make the CIF playoffs,” Rho said. “After starting 13-0, we changed our goal a bit and I was starting to think that this could be a special season because I knew we would be battled-tested in the Bay League.”
PV finished the regular season defeating rival Peninsula. The Sea Kings received the top seed in the Division 4A playoffs.
“We're a young team and throughout the playoffs, no one felt like it was going to be our last game,” he said. “The quarterfinals, semifinals and finals the body language was we had nothing to lose and we were able to come out swinging and play solid games.
“Young confidence ... they have no fear and it really played into our advantage. Getting the win against Peninsula boosted our confidence, we went from not just hanging around, but turning the corner and getting the win. It was a big stepping stone going into the playoffs.”
Quinn Tamashiro scored 14 points and Katie Golden had six points and seven rebounds in the win.