CIF-SS Girls Soccer: Elizabeth Hernandez’ scores in overtime as La Serna advances to third final in four years; La Mirada beats Santa Monica to advance to D4 Final


By Stephen Ramirez
WHITTIER — Senior Elizabeth Hernandez is the out-spoken leader for the La Serna High School girls soccer team.
She made a bold statement Tuesday. But this time with her foot.

Hernandez scored on a shot from just outside the penalty area in the 83th minute and the host Lancers secured their third trip to the CIF-Southern Section finals in the past four seasons with a 1-0 victory over top seed La Quinta in a Division 5 semifinal.
Jezabelle Rubalcava also had four saves for the Lancers, who improved to 19-5-4 and will face Sierra Canyon for a chance at its second Division 5 title in three seasons. The Blackhawks, who survived shootouts in the previous two rounds, finished 23-6-1.
CIF-SS will announce the site, day and time of the Division 5 final on Wednesday.
It was a wild-ending to one of the Lancers’ most physical games of the season. But La Serna, which lost senior mid-fielder Michelle Reed to a hamstring injury in the first half, made the most of its lone chance in overtime.
Natasha Ortiz ran down a deep send-in pass in the left corner. She then gathered in a deflection before getting a touch pass to Hernandez, who drilled a shot in the upper-right corner that La Quinta goalie Arianna Rodriguez was unable to reach.

La Serna’s Elizabeth Hernandez: “I wasn’t really thinking about it. I just got a pass from one of my teammates (Ortiz) and just shot it. I just looked up and shot it and it went in the perfect place.”

La Serna coach Tessa Troglia: “This was a very tough game. La Quinta tested us. I think they hit the post twice. Maybe we had luck on our side, I don’t know. But we did have a lot of dangerous opportunities, we’re just thankful we were able to finish (early) in overtime. Now we have one game left.”
LA MIRADA 2, SANTA MONICA 0
LA MIRADA >> An undefeated 2015 has helped propel the second-seeded La Mirada High School girls soccer team into the CIF-Southern Section Division 4 finals.
An amazing streak of 17 consecutive wins beginning in early January, the last 10 of which have been by shutouts, including Tuesday’s 2-0 semifinal victory over visiting Santa Monica, will give the Matadores a chance for their second CIF title since 2008.
La Mirada will play Moorpark, which beat Riverside Poly on penalty kicks, on Friday or Saturday.
This win is special to the current junior class of varsity players who suffered a 3-0 semifinal defeat in their freshman year.
“This (championship appearance) means a lot to us,” junior forward Maddy Bennett said. “We’ve been wanting this ever since two years ago when I was a freshman and we made it to the semifinals and got whipped. We’re going to win it this year, I know it.”

— John Sherrard

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