T.O. continues to be Royal pain
It took another impressive effort by Royal of Simi Valley to bring out the best in the Thousand Oaks girls' soccer team.
That didn't provide much consolation Monday night for the Highlanders, who played well enough to record at least a tie against the Lancers.
But just like the teams' first meeting, that little extra effort carried Thousand Oaks a long way, helping the Lancers move past idle Agoura for sole possession of first place in the Marmonte League with a 1-0 victory over Royal (5-6-6, 4-2-4).
"It was the same talent and the same skill level as we had (in a 1-0 loss to Westlake and a 0-0 tie with Newbury Park), tonight we just had a much better effort," Thousand Oaks coach Geoff Raives said. "Their work rate was a lot better and you could tell they wanted it. I didn't play up the importance of this game, but this was big for us. Royal's a good team and they're always tough to beat.
"We just needed to stop worrying about everything that has happened in the past and all the outside distractions and just go out and enjoy the opportunity."
Moments before what appeared to be a scoreless first half, the Lancers took full advantage of one of their few scoring opportunities, as hustle plays by sisters Michelle and Nicole Cruz led to Samantha Rivera producing the match's lone goal.
Michelle Cruz knocked the ball off a Royal defender on the left sideline, which awarded Thousand Oaks (11-4-1, 7-1-1) a throw-in. On the quick restart, Michelle Cruz tossed the ball to her sister, whose 15-yard shot was knocked down by Heather Haney. But Nicole Cruz scrambled to gather the rebound, promptly putting another shot on frame.
Haney was again able to deflect the ball, but this time to the far post, where Rivera was waiting to crash the net.
"If Michelle doesn't slide to give us that ball and Nicole doesn't work as hard as she did to play it back in, then Sam doesn't score that goal," Raives said. "It shows how much the little things matter."
Especially when Michelle Cruz, one of the Lancers' top scorers, was held scoreless for the third consecutive match, due in large part to the defensive effort of Jackie Brown.
"We had some girls who were sick and injured and they came back and all of the sudden, we put things back together," Raives said. "And we definitely needed it because Jackie marks Michelle and shuts her down two times and we needed to find another way to score. My hat's tipped to that girl."
But in similar fashion to their 2-1 setback Jan. 16, the Highlanders mounted a strong attack in the final 10 minutes, only to come up empty as a well-placed cross to the left post couldn't connect with any forwards and a 25-yard shot sailed over the crossbar.
"We were right there until the last minute," Royal coach Scott Cameron said. "I liked the way the girls played. I thought their work rate was good and they never quit. But I told my girls before that we weren't coming in here playing for the tie. If they beat us, they were going to earn it and they did. They're a very good team. They're well-coached and they're well-organized and I enjoy playing against them. It's just too bad we had to lose another close one like this."