Crescenta Valley girls soccer overpowered in Division 3 final by Quartz Hill
LA CRESCENTA — Crescenta Valley’s girls soccer team had no answer for Quartz Hill junior Abigail Nunez in the CIF-SS Division 3 championship game Saturday at Crescenta Valley High.
The Falcons had made it to the finals with a tough defense, but they couldn’t find a way to slow down Nunez and her teammates.
The midfielder had two goals and an assist to lead the Royals to a 4-0 victory over the Falcons.
Crescenta Valley entered the game with 13 clean sheets this season, including back-to-back shutouts in their most recent playoff games. But the Royals were a challenge the Falcons couldn’t solve.
“The scoreboard doesn’t necessarily ever reflect what you actually see on the field in a soccer game,” Crescenta Valley coach Tyraysha Souza said. “Quartz Hill definitely came out to win a championship today. They definitely gridded down and were fighting for everything, and so they came out on top.”
The Royals scored in the first half with a trio of impressive goals. Nunez had a leg in all three goals despite never stepping into the box for any of them.
Nunez netted two scorchers from 40 yards out.
The junior scored the game’s first goal in the 12th minute with a bomb that barely got over the hands of the Falcons keeper.
Nunez netted her second goal from nearly the same spot on a free kick in the 32nd minute.
Quartz Hill (20-3-2) kept up the pressure on Crescenta Valley’s defense and found the back of the net again thanks to Nunez. She fired a corner kick cross to Aubrey Gonzalez, who headed in the score.
The Falcons (20-7-2) couldn’t find quality chances to score early on.
Crescenta Valley started the second half with more intensity but the Quartz Hill quickness and ball pressure earned the Royals their second CIF-SS title in three years.
Quartz Hill scored its fourth goal in the second half when senior Natalia Jimenez tapped in the ball in traffic from in front of the Crescenta Valley goal.
Crescenta Valley junior Arianna Dominguez entered the game with a team-high 22 goals this season. She started the game at center back before moving up to the wing to try to create more pressure.
“We’ve kind of had that game plan throughout the playoffs, where we kind of get settled into a game and then make the adjustments that we need to moving forward, depending on what the score is doing,” Souza said. “A lot of the adjustments, a lot of the preparations we made and adjustments we made, they just weren’t gelling today.”
Dominguez had a great run through multiple defenders early in the second half but couldn’t connect with a teammate for a quality shot on goal.
Despite the daunting hole they were in and the majority of the 50/50 balls going to the Royals, the Falcons played hard to the end.
“I’ve definitely seen us play better ball before,” Souza said, “but there’s still a lot of heart out there on our part. I would say the girls gave a lot of effort, and it just didn’t go our way.”
The Falcons’ standout run in the CIF-SS playoffs included an overtime win and a penalty shootout win. This was the team’s second trip to the CIF-SS finals.
“It’s just been a really amazing run,” Souza said. “They are the second team in the history of this program to make it this far. The title is elusive of CIF champion, but there is history in that. And there is something pretty amazing in that. It’s hard for the girls to have that perspective right now. I understand it, because everything’s really fresh, but I also know that they’ll look back and hopefully can hang their heads high and be proud of this moment.”
The season will continue for Crescenta Valley in the CIF Regional playoffs that start Tuesday. The regional brackets will be released Sunday.
“We’ll have to reset,” Souza said. “I think this was a pretty big letdown, so we’ll have to adjust, reset and see what we can go for. But we’ll just see what happens with the draw.”