Soccer: South Hills girls go undefeated in Palomares; Ganesha boys stun No. 1 Garey


marinero1South Hills girls soccer defended its No. 1 ranking in the CIF-Southern Section Division 3 with a 2-0 victory over Claremont in the Palomares League finale on Tuesday, getting goals from Hailey Zerbel and a penalty kick from Skylar Robledo in the closing minute to head to next week’s playoffs with an 18-1-5 record and a lot of momentum.
The Huskies clinched its second league title in school history and first since 2007. But the Huskies were determined to finish undefeated in league, and they did just that, running the table to go 10-0.
Hannah Shields’ free kick set up Zerbel’s goal in the 29th minute, giving the Arizona State-bound striker her team leading 20th goal of the season.
“I can’t even describe how it feels, I’m speechless, we’ve been waiting for this the last four years,” Zerbel said of winning the league title. “We were so close the last few years and we finally got it. It’s a huge accomplishment for our team.”
South Hills coach Scott Mocabee knows he has a great offense, but the Huskies have been equally good on defense, recording their fifth straight shutout.
“We gave up six goals in the first half of league and then shut them all out the second half of league,” Mocabee said.“If we can tighten up the back four and keep this going I think we can make a run (in the playoffs.)
With two goals from Ganesha’s Gerardo Cazares and another from Imar Figueroa, the Giants, ranked No. 3 in Division 5, knocked off No. 1-ranked Garey 3-2 to capture the Miramonte League title on Tuesday in a winner-take-all.
Ganesha boys knocks off No. 1 Garey
With two goals from Ganesha’s Gerardo Cazares and another from Imar Figueroa, the Giants, ranked No. 3 in Division 5, knocked off No. 1-ranked Garey 3-2 to capture the Miramonte League title on Tuesday in a winner-take-all.
Ganesha (14-2-6, 8-0-2), tied Garey 1-1 earlier in the season (19-3-3, 8-1-1) and Tuesday’s win could push the Giants to the top seed when the pairings are announced
Los Altos girls turn it around
One of the biggest turnarounds of the season came during Hacienda League play for the Los Altos girls soccer team, who started 4-7-3, which included a lopsided 5-1 loss to South Hills and a 3-1 loss to Diamond Bar.
But the Conquerors rebounded to capture the Hacienda League and are now 12-7-3 and 8-0-1, hoping to go undefeated in league when it visits Diamond Ranch in Thursday’s league finale at 5:30 p.m.
“It wasn’t just that we figured things out, we were missing a lot of girls early in the season for various reasons, whether it was illness, or deaths in the family, we never got to put the starting lineup I wanted all along until we got to league,” Los Altos coach Chris Reeder said.
Los Altos isn’t tearing it up offensively, it rarely does. But Reeder’s teams always play defense, and that’s obvious because it has allowed just five goals in league.
“I’d be lying if I told you after the preseason we would be vying for the league championship, but I knew we would compete and they’ve bonded better than I thought they would. We haven’t loss since Christmas break.”
With the Division 3 playoffs starting next week, Los Altos finally cracked the CIF-SS rankings by checking in at No. 10.
Reeder likes his teams’ chances, and feels the Conquerors’ could be a sleeper.
“South Hills (No. 1) is clearly the class of our division, but when they beat us 5-1 we had three defensive starters out,” Reeder said. “If we play them again are we losing, 5-1? No way. I’m not foolish enough to not think they’re a great team, but with the way we’re playing now it would be a different game if we met again.”
Damien, Los Altos boys hoping for big finish
In boys soccer, the Hacienda and Baseline Leagues titles and playoff scenarios will likely come down to the final games with Los Altos and Damien needing wins in their league finale’s.
Los Altos (13-6-2, 7-2) trails Diamond Ranch (15-5-1, 8-1), ranked fourth in Division 5, but the Conquerors host the Panthers Thursday at 3:30 p.m.
Since Los Altos beat Diamond Ranch 2-1 earlier in the season, a victory would complete a sweep and not only allow Los Altos and Diamond Ranch to tie for the league title, but Los Altos would head to the playoffs as the league champion because of its head-to-head results against the Panthers.
Damien (9-3-5, 5-2-2) has no shot at the Baseline league title, that likely belongs to Chino Hills (14-5-2, 7-2), but the Spartans can take over sole possession of second with a victory at Los Osos (9-6-5, 6-2-1) on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.

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