La Serna Looks For First Title

In the first of two local girls soccer championship games, La Serna looks to add its first title in school history.

Girls Soccer
Division IV Championships

No. 3 La Serna (25-3) vs. No. 4 Granite Hills (20-5-2)
at Downey High School, 4 p.m.

Initial Thoughts: Will anyone score in this game? The Cougars have posted eight shutouts over their last 10 games. La Serna has only given up three goals over the last 15 games.

Why La Serna will win -
The Lancers are a better all-around team. It's like the old saying goes, the best defense is a good offense. Despite back-to-back 1-0 wins, La Serna dominated both La Salle and Bishop Montgomery, last year's Division IV champion and runner-up, in the previous two rounds. La Serna is also one of the better passing teams in the division and will get plenty of good looks before the day is done.

Why Granite Hills will win -
There might not be a better coach in the division than Granite Hill's Mike Bradbury. The Cougars just missed reaching the divisional finals last year and return with another young but strong team. Granite Hills knocked off No. 1-ranked Serrano just to get to the title game. This was the same Serrano team that pasted them 4-0 earlier in the year. What I like about Granite Hills is that they're not afraid to take chances. And that's what it's going to take to win. Somebody is going to have to really challenge La Serna goalie Nicole Godinez.

La Serna X-Factor:
Just play your game and finish your opportunities The Lancers take an awful lot of shots for the number of goals they actually connect on.

Granite Hills X-Factor:
Lock-down defense. The Cougars smothered Serrano's big star Kauren Tarver, who was the focal point of the offense. Expect the same defense on Nicole Reed and Jordan Dolbin.

The pick: This was the toughest of all three but I'm going to go with La Serna, 2-1.