SCCS marching on to semis

Cardinals break tie to beat Saddleback Valley

Santa Clarita Christian girls soccer’s Sydney Boswell really couldn’t ask for a better freshman year of varsity soccer.

The Cardinals, who finished second in the Heritage League, earned a 3-2 CIF-Southern Section Division 7 quarterfinal win against Saddleback Valley Christian at College of the Canyons on Friday.

“Our whole team is really pumped about it,” Boswell, who scored two goals, said. “As a freshman it’s kind of new to me so going into this I’m really excited.”

Tied 1-1 with the Warriors (15-4-1) at the start of the second half, Ellyanna Edwards took a shot that deflected off the crossbar. Boswell capitalized on the rebound with a header and a goal.

A few minutes later, Boswell had the ball on a breakaway and beat Saddleback’s keeper one-on-one.

The Cards (15-4) scored their initial goal on a Julia Phillips free kick. But the Warriors kept it close as they traded goals throughout the game.

“It’s kind of like we always say,” Boswell said. “Its 0-0. Play your hardest no matter what.”

“I think that under pressure we really played well and even though it was one of the hardest games we played, we overall resolved the conflict and we got over the fact that was the hard team and we played our hardest and it worked out for us.”

SCCS will next play Azusa on Tuesday, Feb. 27. The Aztecs are coming off a 5-1 win over St. Bernard.

Boswell is hoping to keep her first year of varsity soccer alive by having a cool, collected mentality and maintaining solid play.

“Always improve our accuracy in what we do,” she said, “whether that be passes or shots and to keep composure on the field.”