Varsity Girls Soccer Semi-finals

Knight Belen Muñoz and Jaguar Hailey White fight for ball.

Giannina Gutierrez, Co-operative School

Score tied 0-0 at half-time
Jaguars break loose, beat Knights 4-0
By Ana L. Saavedra Banzer

Cambridge College
The Cambridge Knights kept the Jaguars at bay for a full half, but then the Co-operative school varsity girls soccer team closed for the kill, firing in four goals to take the semifinal game and advance to next Tuesday's championship game against Christian Learning.
Cambridge, which did not score in the 4-0 shutout, will play against International in the consolation game Tuesday.
For the Jaguars, Carla Limpias, a fullback, scored her first two goals of the year on long free kicks. Maria Fernanda Antelo and league scoring co-leader Tania Landivar added single tallies.
The teams played each other evenly in the first half, which ended 0-0. It was a hot afternoon and both teams showed signs of both fatigue and championship game jitters. Cambridge actually had more shots on goal, but, in truth, neither side was able to compel the opposing goalkeeper to take heroic measures.

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PHOTO: Grace in motion . . .Jaguar Tania Landivar launches a corner kick.

Giannina Gutierrez, Co-operative School

Things got more active in the second half. Jaguar Darinka Matkovic was denied a goal when Knight goalie Raquel Lopez made a nice save on a long, strong shot. Next,
Landivar, Co-operative's precocious seventh grader, broke the deadlock with a goal from fairly far out on the left side.

This seemed to wake the Jaguars up. The score went to 2-0 as Limpias, an 8th grader, made the first of her free kicks. Less than a minute later, Antelo, a relatively elderly 10th grader, latched on to a well placed centering pass from Landivar and knocked it into the goal for the third Jaguar.

Limpias then notched her second goal off a free kick. Both of Limpias' kicks were launched from about the mid-field stripe.
Lady Knight Moira Vaca, an 11th grader, played well in Cambridge's losing cause, scampering down the right wing on forays that somehow seemed to end just short of the goal. Senior Lourdes Justinano was effective at sweeper and showed a strong leg on all of Cambridge's free kicks.

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PHOTO: Jaguar goalie Nataly Noquer booms one out of there

Giannina Gutierrez, Co-operative School

Opposing teams plotting ways in which they might unseat the Jaguars from their accustomed spot atop the league standings in the years to come (as opposed to next Tuesday) will need to cope with the fact that many of the most talented Co-operative players are young enough to be playing on the junior varsity.

This includes its leading scorers. Landivar, Fernanda Vaca Diez, and Hailey White, all of whom are in the seventh or eighth grades. They will be joined next year by many of veterans of the Jaguars undefeated junior varsity team.
One can, one supposes, hope that these talented young girls lose interest in sports as they enter the later years of high school. Otherwise the future of girls soccer in the league looks definitely black-and-red.
The line-up for the victorious Jaguars Thursday was as follows: Nataly Noquer, Tali Rozenman, Dominique Harrison, Carla Limpias, Leila Rozenman, Aldana Roda, Florencia Casares, Cecelia Aponte, Fernanda Vaca Diez, Tania Landivar, Darinka Matkovic, Mariana Perez, Ximena Velez Ocampo, Hailey White, Alexia Handal, Giovanna Varalta, Maria Jose Landivar, Maria Fernanda Antelo.
For Cambridge: Raquel Lopez, Nadia Rocco, Lisa Delboy, Lourdes Justinano, Liliana Sainz, Camila Johnson, Belen Muñoz, Manuela Yañez, Moira Vaca, Andrea Saba, Yomara Vaca, Cristina Quiroga, Helen Yong, Nan Jordan, Mariana Escaño, Alejandra Abastaflor, Vitania Pulis.

Eagle Sabrina Hallock and Griffin Simone Ahuile tussle for the ball
Jonatan Muñoz, International

Brooks tallies twice
Eagles subdue Griffins 4-1, advance
By SunChan Jang
Christian Learning Center
Probably setting a new league record, Eagle striker Daniela Brooks scored twice in the first eight minutes to pace the Christian Learning varsity girls soccer team to what would eventually be a 4-1 victory over International Thursday on their home field.
The victory in the semifinals moves Christian Learning into the championship game next Tuesday against their old rivals, Co-operative, to whom they have lost once, and tied once during the regular season. International will play Cambridge in the consolation game.
Brooks’ goals quickly disabused the Griffins of any thoughts they may have had of pulling off another 0-0 tie against the Eagles, as they had earlier this year. The goals also broke Brooks’ personal scoring slump. Although she was the league’s leading scorer with five goals, she hadn’t scored since the second game of the year, leading to some conjecture that the opposing teams had figured out how to stop her.
Brooks did not cease looking for goals after the first two Thursday. Toward the end of first half she had another opportunity and just missed getting a hat trick.
In the second half the Eagles added two more goals, one by Sabrina Hallock and the final one by Roxy Jien. The Griffins responded with a goal of their own scored by Melissa Roca, which for a time cut the Eagles lead to two goals, at 3-1.
The Eagles demonstrated great teamwork during Thursday’s game. Their passes were perfect and their defense was nearly indestructible.
International seemed to gain strength in the second half after their goal was scored, and narrowly missed connecting on two passes across the front of the goal for which the winger arrived nanoseconds too late.
However, Eagle goalie Whitney Belovicz didn’t allow any further balls to go through her. Belovicz played aggressively, often coming out successfully to take the ball away from attackers, and showing no bad effects from her ill starred outing in the most recent game against Co-operative.
It was International goalie Regina Landivar’s turn to have a bad day. She had an upset stomach that forced her to leave the field in the first half.
The return to form of Hallock, who has been hobbled or sidelined with an ankle injury most of the season, was also good news for the Eagles as they prepare for the championship game. She adds another swift runner to a line-up that has sometimes seemed too slow to contend with Co-operative’s high-speed style.
The line-up for Christian Learning was Whitney Belovicz, Tabitha Malloy, Jennifer Lau, Katie Beth Wilcke, Sabrina Hallock, Daniela Brooks, Roxy Jien, Lili Cai, Laura Lindahl, Alejandra Valencia, Hannah Swindoll, Jihea Ahn, Danielle Doi, Jessica Smith, Jessi Kennedy, Mariela Salinas, Minima Apodaca.
For International: Adrian Ocampo, Matilde Vasquez, Regina Landivar, Stephanie Gioto, Ana Karina Marin, Mariana Chavez, Fabiana Murillo, Melissa Roca, Nadine Witteveen, Stephanie Saltzsieder, Fernanda Sepulveda, Laura Chavez, and Simone Ahuile.