‘AWESOME’ JUNIOR LIFTS THE FALCONS

Scripps Ranch girls soccer coach Larry Pernicano knows he can count on Leiden Huber.

The junior scored a pair of first-half goals to lead the fourth-seeded Falcons to a 2-1 victory over No. 5 Steele Canyon in the San Diego Section Division I girls soccer quarterfinals Saturday night at Scripps Ranch High.

“She’s awesome,” Pernicano said of Huber, who registered goals No. 12 and 13 for the season. “Even though we came in with a very young team, starting four freshmen, I knew she would get the job done.”

Huber gave the Falcons (11-7-5) the lead in the 26th minute. She took a pass from Ella Brislin from 15 yards out and laced a shot into the left corner of the net past Cougars goalkeeper Chloe Sevilla.

“I hit it with my left foot,” explained Huber. “I kind of just cut it back and hit it and

it went in.”

While her first goal was a laser beam, Huber’s second was a bomb. Her blast from 35 yards out in the 42nd minute was virtually rising the whole time, climbing over Sevilla’s attempted save.

“Nobody was on me so I one touched it,” Huber said. “During warm-up I was hitting them from 25-30 yards out so I was confident.

Dahlia Alonso cut the Falcons’ lead by one early in the second half for Steele Canyon (9-9-9). A free kick ricocheted around in the box, falling to Alonso. The senior controlled the ball and put it past Scripps Ranch goalkeeper Kylee Del Monte in the 53rd minute.

Scripps Ranch advances to face the winner between Westview and Granite Hills in the semifinals.