St. Lucy’s win in OT: St. Lucy’s was having difficulty creating opportunities through the run of play against South Hills in Friday’s Sierra League girls soccer game.
That’s what the Huskies pesky defense does to you, central defenders Jessica Villagomez and Shayla Harris a big reason why the Huskies had allowed an area-low six goals and had lost just one game, though offensively they’re a work in progress, which is why they also have six ties.
The frustration was evident on St. Lucy’s attacking playmaker Victoria Camaj, who received a caution early in the second half, and had trouble creating clean opportunities in the box for her frontrunners.
But Camaj did what good players do. With the game scoreless in overtime, she started taking defenders on.
Camaj penetrated the box with a nifty cut to her left to free herself for a second, then buried a left-footed shot off the right net for the game winner in the 86h minute and first overtime to lead the Regents to a 1-0 win.
Sierra League
Girls Soccer
Ayala 3, Charter Oak 0
Chino Hills 0, Claremont 0
Boys Soccer
Claremont 2, Chino Hills 1
Damien 5, South Hills 1
Ayala 3, Charter O
Inland Insider Highlights and reaction on defending CIF champion Claremont’s 2-1 victory over Chino Hills in Boys Soccer.
Camaj nearly scored doing the same thing toward the end of regulation, but she was relieved she finally got one to go in to help the Regents improve to 12-4 and 2-0 in while the Huskies fell to 6-2-6 and 1-1.
“They have a very good defense, we kept trying and trying,” Camaj said. “My coach kept telling me to keep pushing, to keep cutting and cutting and I finally got around their defenders and got one in.”
South Hills coach Scott Mocabee knew stopping Camaj for 80 minutes would be difficult, so giving her an extra 20 minutes in overtime to do her thing wasn’t ideal.
“She does a very good job at finding that gap in between our back four and our midfield,” Mocabee said. “On that goal she found that spot and we didn’t close her good enough and she buried it. She’s a special player and someone who was on our radar before the game started.”
South Hills goalkeeper Morgan Bello made several good saves to keep the game scoreless, but the Huskies couldn’t muster much offensively, intent on sitting back and countering. The problem was there weren’t enough counters to seriously threat the Regents for most of the evening.
“Their game plan was obvious,” St. Lucy’s coach Andy Placentia said. “They did it well and have a couple of girls who hit some long balls. I can see why they had just given up six goals all year. They’re very well coached, organized and do what they do well, and on this field (natural grass) it makes it tough to hold the ball or create. But I’m proud of my girls because they kept working and finally got rewarded.”
Overall, Placentia was pleased. Several Regents played well, especially outside midfielder Shannon Kent, who constantly created havoc with her speed.
The Regents played better in the second half by creating space for themselves.
“We had our outside midfielders staying a little to central in the first half,” Placentia said. “I told them to stay wider to create more space inside. They stuck to it and it helped us get more opportunities. I know it’s a frustrating game with the field, touches and them being so well organized, but we pecked away and got it done.”
