Girls Soccer: El Centro teams led IVL and DL
IMPERIAL VALLEY – The Southeastern Conference’s girls soccer league champions will be determined today, Friday, February 3, and next week with action in both the Imperial Valley League and Desert League winding down to the final matches.
Both the IVL-leading Central High Spartans and the Desert League’s first-place Southwest High Eagles remain in control of their destinies with two and three matches remaining, respectively.
Both teams picked up victories on Tuesday, January 30, to remain in first place, with Central downing the Brawley Wildcats by a score of 7-1, while Southwest defeated the West Shores Wildcats 10-2 in Salton City.
Central’s Emily Lopez and Jarethzy Lopez each scored two goals, while Spartan teammates Ashley Romero, Azul Amador, and Jissell Castillo each contributed a goal.
The Spartan victory allowed Central (12-81, 6-0 IVL) to remain a game-and-a-half ahead of the Imperial High Tigers (12-6-3, 4-1-1 IVL), who traveled to Holtville on Tuesday, January 31, and downed the Holtville Vikings by a score of 5-0.
Central faced a door-die week and are now close to clinching the IVL title as they get set to host the Calexico Bulldogs (11-10-2, 2-2-1 IVL). The Bulldogs won a non-league match, also on Tuesday, defeating the visiting Castle Park Trojans, 5-1, at Ward Field.
“We had to travel to Brawley and Friday is our last home game against Calexico,” Central Coach Francisco Lopez said. “And we know we can seal it with two wins … if not, then we go to Imperial next Tuesday and decide it there.”
Meanwhile, Imperial’s Kaitlin Tucker led the Tigers in their win over Holtville with two goals, while Brisa Necochea, Madison Romero, and
freshman mid-fielder Jimena Valdovinos also scored, keeping Imperial in the hunt for at least an IVL co-championship.
The Tigers trail Central by a match-and-ahalf, and need help from Calexico Friday in the form of a win or tie.
“Central and Calexico play on Friday and that’s a big match to us,” Imperial Coach Cathy Huerta said. “They are both good teams but no matter what happens we want to we win out the rest of our matches … anything can happen.” The Tigers have the IVL bye on Friday.
While Imperial is in a good position to get a spot in the CIF Division III playoffs, regardless of where the Tigers finish in the IVL table; Central, the highest divisionally ranked team in the Southeastern Conference in D-II, finds themselves needing to win the IVL title to get to a play-in match in CIF’s D-II playoffs.
“I’m telling the girls that we have to win every game … we are not ranked that high in CIF and we have to win IVL to advance,” Lopez said.
“Not even a tie,” she said. “We don’t want to give Imperial an opportunity, and that’s a lot of pressure on the girls, but that’s the way it’s been … we’ve won something like seven titles in a row … I’ve been around the pressure and it’s not new to us.”
The Southwest Eagles also have their fate in their own hands and are looking to win out their remaining two Desert League matches, as with their win on Tuesday, Southwest (12-10, 7-0 DL) was able to maintain a one-game lead over the Palo Verde Yellowjackets (9-9-2, 5-1 DL), with PV also winning 8-0 over the Borrego Springs Rams in Blythe.
Southwest hosted Vincent Memorial Catholic on Thursday, while Palo Verde has the Desert League bye on Friday before traveling to El Centro for their showdown with Southwest next Tuesday, February 7.
“We have to keep winning to stay a game ahead and so we feel like playing for a potential bye and home field advantage into the CIF quarterfinals,” Southwest Coach Edgar Mendez said. “First we have to secure our league, our number one concern is staying ahead of Palo Verde and beating them … the clearest path is to win and that’s the best outcome.”
For Southwest, Emma Perez and Isabella Romo scored four goals while Lorenia Marco and Kayla Navar each scored a goal for the Eagles.
Today, February 3, in IVL action Holtville (4-12-0, 0-6 IVL) will be at Warne Field to play Brawley (5-14-1,
1-4 IVL), along with the Central- Calexico and the Southwest-Vincent Memorial matches.
All matches, except when noted, kickoff at 6:00 p.m.