Los Alamitos girls’ soccer blanks Newport Harbor for top seed in Sunset League tournament
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Newport Harbor was magnificent for so much of its girls soccer showdown with fellow Sunset League unbeaten Los Alamitos, shutting down the Griffins’ gorgeous, revered possession game and dominating a tense second half that promised reward but granted none.
Senior captains Sadie Hoch and Bridget Taketa anchored a superb midfield quartet that took command after the break, but the Sailors’ inefficiency when opportunities arrived left them with in a 2-0 home loss that sends Los Alamitos into a novel second stage of Sunset play with an advantage.
All-CIF Southern Section midfielder Viviana Zacarias scored both goals for Los Alamitos, from a long through ball in the first half and with an arcing free kick in the closing minutes. The win gave the Griffins (12-5-3 overall, 6-0 Sunset League) a three-point edge on Newport Harbor (13-3-3, 5-1) and a first-round bye in the inaugural league-closing tournament that begins Thursday.
The expected prize: a rematch at Los Alamitos in Wednesday’s final. That game, far more than this one, would have more to say about who wins the Sunset League title. This one adds fuel.
“Sometimes that happens in soccer, the better team doesn’t necessarily win,” Hoch said. “We felt like we were the better team, at least for the second half. You know, that game didn’t really mean much, other than seeding [for the tournament], so, hopefully, we’ll get another chance at them ... show them our real team and get the result that we want.”
The inaugural tournament, designed to avoid a mid-December start to league play, won’t determine the league champion but will provide the decisive points. Nine will go to the champion — four in the title game — and a Harbor triumph over Los Alamitos would give them 24 to the Griffins’ 23.
The Sailors are home against seventh-seeded Fountain Valley (8-6-3, 0-6) in their first-round game. The winner will meet No. 3 Huntington Beach (12-3-4, 4-2) or No. 6 Marina (4-10-0, 1-5) in Monday’s semifinals.
Los Alamitos, an enduring powerhouse that has won seven successive Sunset or Surf league championships, awaits No. 4 Edison (10-7-2, 3-3) or No. 5 Corona del Mar (13-5-0, 2-4). Higher seeds are home throughout, and there’s a consolation bracket, with the Edison-CdM loser receiving a bye into the final.
Huntington Beach is the only team aside from the top two that can win the league title. The Oilers would have to win the tournament while Los Alamitos lost its semifinal and third-place games.
“Anyone can beat anyone on any day, so it’s going to be a challenge,” Griffins head coach Pat Rossi said. “That’s why the Sunset League is so strong, because every team can play.”
Rare is the team that plays such beautiful, flowing soccer as Los Alamitos, which looked the part for the first 10 minutes or so. Newport Harbor then figured out how to deal with a tightly spaced midfield as the Griffins mirrored the Sailors’ 3-2-4-1, box-midfield alignment.
Harbor brought greater intensity in the second half, penning the Griffins inside their defensive third, forcing them to go direct, ineffectually, and cutting off passing lanes. Zacarias’ dead-ball strike in the 76th minute was their first shot of the half.
The Sailors in both halves failed to capitalize on their chances, the best coming in a six-minute span midway through the second half: a misplaced Paige Shanahan header from Abbi Clapp’s cross, a loose ball in the goalmouth from another Clapp delivery five minutes later, and a Mia Knox one-on-one sent high moments after that.
“The first half was a little uneven for us, but the second half was definitely more of things that we could do,” Newport Harbor coach Justin Schroeder said. “Just a bummer [to lose]. I mean, that’s part of the game. Oftentimes you come out games and you’re like, ‘We played really well.’ We might have been the better team. We just didn’t get the result. And that’s soccer 101, for the most part.”
Zacarias’ goal in the 27th minute, with a cross-box finish into the lower-right corner from Victoria Bloch’s feed on a quick counterattack, gave Los Alamitos the means to absorb and repel. The lead might have been greater had Harbor goalkeeper Audrey Burns not parried Sofia Bugarin’s lob off her crossbar and away in the 31st.
“They totally [took us out of our game],” Rossi said. “They’re awesome. Their coach did a great job there, and we were fortunate to get a set piece there and a goal early. ... We were just trying to defend the lead at that point.”
Huntington Beach secured the third seed as freshman Mia Sanchez, just pulled up from the junior varsity team, scored in overtime for a 1-0 victory at Corona del Mar. Marina claimed the No. 6 seed, beating visiting Fountain Valley, 1-0, on Cadence Dodosh’s goal midway through the first half.
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Sunset League tournament quarterfinals Thursday
No. 1 Los Alamitos, bye
No. 5 Corona del Mar at No. 4 Edison, 5 p.m.
No. 6 Marina at No. 3 Huntington Beach, 5 p.m.
No. 7 Fountain Valley at No. Newport Harbor, 6:30 p.m.
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