UPDATED: Verso scores two goals, leads St. Francis to SoCal Regional semifinals; Alverno falls short, 2-1
Above: Amir Moore scored a goal to put the game out of reach and help St. Francis record the victory. Sophomore Eric Verso almost recorded the hat trick.
CIF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA REGIONAL
FIRST ROUND
DIVISION III
Francis Parker 2, Alverno 1: The day didn't start in the best of ways for the Alverno High School girls soccer team, and the evening didn't fare any better. Francis Parker School scored early in the first half en route to a 2-1 win over the Jaguars in the first round of the CIF Southern California Regionals on Tuesday night in San Diego. Alverno (19-3-1) didn't end the season without any hardware; the Jaguars won the CIF-Southern Section Division VII championship last week, this after having never gotten past the quarterfinals before. The Jaguars' bus arrived with a flat tire, and after waiting an hour for the next bus to arrive, Alverno had to make another pit stop to refuel the bus. They warmed up only a half hour before taking the field, which happened almost an hour after a scheduled 5 p.m. start. Alex Hulsey scored in the 10th minute to give the Lancers (18-4-5) a 1-0 lead. Marla Blanco made it 2-0 in the 22nd minute to give Francis Parker a two-goal lead at halftime. Alverno's Celina Minissian, a freshman, scored from 7 yards out off a corner kick in the 42nd minute after Marina Lesse's corner kick deflected off Jessica Capra's head. But that's as close as the Jaguars would get.
Francis Parker coach Marc Thiebach was impressed with Alverno's play nonetheless. "They compiled a good amount of wins against small schools, but they're aggressive," Thiebach said. "We had some size advantage, but to their credit, as the game went on, they got stronger and stronger. They came out in the second half to score, and our game elevated as a result of that goal." "I'm at loss for words to explain how much I appreciate their efforts," Alverno coach Ken Berry said. "The team played strong all season long."
CIF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA REGIONAL
FIRST ROUND
DIVISION II
St. Francis 3, Canoga Park 0: From start to finish, Eric Verso wreaked havoc.
Fortunately for the St. Francis High School boys soccer team, Verso was wearing the brown jersey.
Verso, only a sophomore, scored two picturesque goals to lift the Golden Knights to a 3-0 win over Canoga Park on Tuesday night in the first round of the CIF Southern California Division II Regionals.
St. Francis (16-6-5) will host Valhalla (San Diego Section) on Thursday at 5 p.m. in the semifinals. Valhalla defeated South Torrance, 1-0, to advance. Both the Golden Knights and Valhalla each played first-round home games but the higher-seed in these playoffs get the home field advantage.
CLICK THREAD TO CONTINUE READING ST. FRANCIS GAME STORY
It was only last week when St. Francis' season seemingly came to an abrupt end after losing a heartbreaker, 3-1, in overtime to Long Beach Millikan in the semifinals of the CIF-Southern Section Division I playoffs.
In that game, the Golden Knights were unlucky and their two own goals propelled the Rams to the Division I final where they lost to top-seed El Toro.
Nevertheless, only two days had gone by and St. Francis was invited to play for a chance to take home some hardware and proclaim Southern California supremacy among Division II schools, which is based on school enrollment.
Canoga Park (15-5-1) lost in the quarterfinals of the CIF L.A. City Section. It was only two years ago when the Hunters played in the prestigious West Coast Classic Tournament and steamrolled through Southern Section opponents before blanking powerhouse Loyola, 2-0, to win the tournament championship. They went on to win the L.A. City Section.
There would be no kind of domination this time around, especially since Canoga Park had practiced only one day for an hour since its quarterfinal ouster nearly two weeks ago. On top of that, the Hunters played without their starting keeper and center midfielder because of ineligibility. Two other starters sat out because of injuries.
Still, there would be no sympathy from the Golden Knights who wasted no time pressing early and often up front.
Verso was in the middle of each scoring threat for St. Francis and Jake LaPorte and Nick Rihn helped create those opportunities.
Numerous times, LaPorte sent outlet passes to Verso who was a step behind from breaking the scoreless tie.
"We had some chances in the first half (and) we didn't take advantage," St. Francis coach Glen Appels said. "We had some chances inside the box to put them away."
But it would only be a matter of time until Verso converted, and he did in the 22nd minute.
Off a Rihn pass from the far wing, Verso took the ball and calmly sent a shot to the far post and give St. Francis a 1-0 lead.
That Golden Knights goal came off a counter attack as did their second goal, courtesy of Verso who took a Rihn outlet pass from near midfield. Verso out ran the defender and juked the Canoga Park keeper to send a shot to the near post and give St. Francis a 2-0 lead.
"When (Eric) has that much room it's going to be a goal," Appels said. "(He has) so much composure for a sophomore. He beat the center and beat the keeper to roll it in. It was terrific."
The Hunters sent numbers up front in an effort to get on the scoreboard, but that would lead to another Golden Knights goal, courtesy of senior Amir Moore who scored in Verso fashion to make it 3-0 in the 72nd minute.
And just like that, the seniors get one more chance to play at home.
"You have to feel good for the kids," Appels said. "We'd like to finish with a win at home and get a chance to play in a championship game. This helps take away some of that memory (of losing in the semifinals)."
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Melendez worked as a correspondent for the San Gabriel Valley Tribune for three years and later landed a job as a freelance writer at the Los Angeles Times before accepting an offer at The Orange County Register covering high schools. Melendez covered Major League Soccer at The Register for three years before being promoted to report on the Lakers, Angels and Dodgers for the Web. Melendez also worked for the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Fresno Bee, Oakland Tribune and The Boston Globe. E-mail opinions, suggestions and tips to miguel.melendez@sgvn.com. |
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Can we get out of the Rio Hondo League and play in the Horizon league? Pretty please? We couldn't have beaten Alverno, but we would have made the playoffs for sure!
Our opponents hung 105 goals on us and the only times we scored happened when the opposing goalkeepers were doing their homework or had fallen asleep altogether.
Anon: Did you read the post till the end. I said that I was sure FSHA, Arcadia and everyone else would trade their higher ranking for the CIF ring. The ring is the thing and Alverno has the ring. But you need to give those kids on more competitive teams their due as well.
Mr. Real Truth
Maybe FSHA should go down a divison or two, maybe then they can win a CIF Championship. Are when we in English class!!! Give Alverno it's due! Have you grown, yet!
Is HS Fan a high school graduate? Holy Smokes, read that post.
Here you go genius, if the Lakers, UCLA, Oxy and Muir play basketball and Muir wins their league, Muir is NOT the # 1 basketball team of the four. The Muir assistant coach (tongue in cheek) might think that Muir is better than Oxy -or the Lakers for that fact- but that doesn't make it so.
FSHA would beat Alverno by four goals. Arcadia would beat Alverno by three goals,
La Salle would beat Alverno by two goals. Maranatha would beat Alverno by at least one goal and LC would probably tie Alverno ( or win via PK's), oh that's right they did.
Give FSHA, Arcadia etc their due. They are better teams, but not CIF champs. That should be enough for Alverno. I am sure the other teams would gladly trade their higher ranking for your CIF rings.
We are proud that Alverno won, if the other local High School did not win so be. All schools had great players but remember their is always next season with new players, so be happy of the outcome.
I do not understand why FSHA get to be #1 because they are in a higher divison. I you play and win against the teams in your division it should be looked upon as what it is. I do not feel FSHA, should be number 1. Yes they did win League, but that was it.
Miguel
We have a difference of opinion and I'm sorry that this annoys you. In the past your opinions have annoyed me, but I keep paying to hear them. Such is the price of free speach. As someone once said (paraphrased) "if a news story or op-ed piece doesn't get at least at least one person angry, it probably isn't any good"
None of my opinions have a whit of linkage with Alverno's AD. From all accounts he was a great guy and Alverno's girls have suffered a tremendous loss. I lit a candle for him at church on Sunday and said a small prayer.
We have very different perspectives on the Alverno story because you are a reporter and I am part of the sport. My kids were/are high level club soccer players and I am a former National (USSF Grade 4) and CIF Referee that officiated CSL Premier, CalSouth ODP, FWRL, USYS National Championship Series Games, CIF Playoffs, etc. etc as recently as a few years ago. Beyond that, I personally know the parents and players in a great many of the area teams. The knowledgeable Alverno parents are justifiably proud of their kids, but freely admit that CIF D7 is a step below CSL Bronze. I ran into one Alverno parent a few weeks ago who laughingly said: "I have never seen such ugly soccer until I saw the Horizon League." He said that the other club parents wish that they were in Division 5. I realize that this is a different view than Coach Lesse's, but underneath his story, the parents know.
For me, it really isn't a question of "letting it go" because there is nothing to "release." My Daughter's team didn't even play Alverno and had a great run in the playoffs. She is back in club, headed to Vegas Showcase this weekend, and life has returned to normal.
In closing I would only say this to Alverno's girls and their parents; "Congratulations to all of you on your championship and a great year." To you I would only say that I would rather read 100 more stories about FSHA, Maranatha, La Canada and the other league champions who had to "bring it" against tough teams twice a week during league, play with injuries to win in tight games, and bounce back from losses against tough competition. You are the greatest of champions.
Hmmmmmm, sounded like an awful lot of whining in that opening paragraph.
I've been following Alverno High School Soccer for the past year, and this year will be a year to remember. The playing intensity and team representation exceeds far beyond most schools. These girls are determined to win and even though they lost to Francis Parker, it is evident no matter whom they beat while getting the So Cal Regional Final, that they are winners not whiners. The one comment made by Marc Thiebach, is ridiculous and careless, small school, big school it doesn't matter the size of the school it's how hard a team plays. If a game is won then be respectful of the opponent not arrogant.
Hitme is wrong about playoffs. A good portion of the playoffs is the luck of the draw. St. Lucy was unlucky to get Notre Dame in the first round. FSHA was unlucky to get eventual D-2 Champion Saugus at Saugus in the second round. La Salle loses flip and has to go to the Antelope Valley where they fall on PK's. Arcadia wins a flip of the coin and gets to play Harvard Westlake at home in a game they could have won. The true measure of a high school team is what they do in the course of the 10 - 12 game regular season. Non-league games pad stats, playoffs require a team to get both hot and lucky but winning league requires consistant excellency over two months. There is nothing lucky about winning league. Congrats to LC, FSHA and Alverno for their league championships.
Some of you soccer fans are really starting to annoy, specifically those who continue to bash Alverno because in their eyes didn't play "tough teams" and only won a "Division VII" championship.
Are we forgetting that this was a memorable season for Alverno and that they won a CIF championship and dedicated the season to its long time AD and softball coach? Listen, these girls play whoever is in front of them. They have no control whatsoever about their opponents.
The Truth: You and your other buddies need to tone it down. Alverno won. Your team didn't. Let it go.
FSHA will be #1 because of the talent that is there and very experienced players at the highest level of club soccer. Arcadia and La Salle are #2. Arcadia lose some players and have young team. Vania and Torres key players. La Salle lose 2 seniors and have a lot of young players returning. will go far like they always do in playoffs. Maranatha and La Canada #3. Maranatha has a lot of talent and will be tough contender in season. La Canada had a great year and young team. remember they went to D5 from D4. they will be the same next year i think. high school soccer is 3 stages. pre-season, league and playoffs. its all about peaking at the right time. the other teams will make there runs but nothing like the top 5.
Angel Bec: FSHA will graduate five seniors. They lost four excellent seniors last year but they still had Fleming, Harrigin, Johnson, Norton and Beanca to show their freshman the way to # 1 in Area and League this past season.
Next year they probably only have two seniors and two juniors. They will be very young. That's why they drop to 5th. Arcadia will have Robles, Torres and Tangorra back. Talented and mature. They will be number 1. La Salle won't be far behind. They aren't losing much either. LC will have had a year of playing together and Maranatha showed just how good they were against South Torrance. Monrovia will lose Brooks and Kelly which drops them out of the top five and all the rest have too far to go to be mentioned. Sleeper team though might be Flintridge Prep.
I heard Jordan Bell continues to get large for St. Francis
Vasquez crushed by Bishop 5-1
Hi haters!!! I have no affiliation with Alverno, but come on, they beat who was presented in front of them. Whose to say whether or not the Westridge game meant anything to Alverno, along with La Canada. I just find it sad that you cant be happy for Alverno (a local team) because of your teams inability to win the ship. Some people need to do some growing.
If Saugus beat CV and FSHA 1 - 0. CV and FSHA would be equal. CV defeated Arcadia TWICE. Ergo, FSHA # 1, Arcadia # 2. FSHA beat HW. Arcadia did not.
Ergo, FSHA # 1, Arcadia # 2
Angel, FSHA will be right up there near the top, if not at the top...too much young talent that is only going to get better. Losing your group of Seniors would be tough for anybody, but FSHA will reload, not rebuild
It is said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so I won't hold your lack of creativity against you, despite the fact that you have selective amnesia/comprehension issues.
I realize that it is an "inconvenient truth" that Harvard Westlake BEAT FSHA in the most recent game 2-1. HW shook off its first loss to FSHA and improved. If Arcadia would have converted its PK the score would have been the same. Saugus beat CV and FSHA by the same score; 1-0.
Perhaps you've been watching too much Dr. Phil or Oprah? After a couple of ties at the end of the season (Louisville & ND) that all of you guys tried ignore, it isn't a surprise that you are so sensitive.
Real Truth,
I see that your rankings have changed greatly from this year's team to next year's team.
Why did you drop FSHA to 5th place and Arcadia first? Do you anticipate big changes? Please share.
So, The Truth ranks Arcadia over FSHA because " Arcadia's game against HW better than FSHA". Arcadia lost to HW 2- 0 at Arcadia. FSHA beat HW 1 - 0. I get your point. FSHA clearly # 1 local team. Do you really think FSHA would have lost TWO games to CV like Arcadia did? Wouldn't happen, not this past year.
Truth reveals itself as an Arcadia parent. Only an Arcadia parent would think Arcadia was better than FSHA. FSHA beat HW. Arcadia LOST to HW AT ARCADIA by 2 goals. Beat CV once before you claim you are better than FSHA.
ps: not an FSHA parent
My final top 5
1) Arcadia: Arcadia's game against HW better than FSHA
2) FSHA: Great Run
3) La Salle: Slightly better than LC, but close
4) La Canada: Beat Maranatha Head to head, Oak Park win
5) Maranatha: Good team....solid