SANTA CRUZ — Santa Cruz High’s girls soccer team wanted to another chance to avenge its lone loss the past 11 games. First, it had to get past Scotts Valley in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League Tournament semifinal.
Summer Laskey and Julia Moore each scored two goals as Santa Cruz fought off pesky Falcons 4-2 on Thursday night to secure both a berth in the final and a spot in the upcoming Central Coast Section playoffs.
Now Aptos — the SCCAL’s regular-season champ and No. 1 seed in the league tournament — has the Cardinals’ undivided attention.
“Our attacking influence and the ability to get behind their defense made the difference,” Santa Cruz coach Jay Gomez said. “It was a combination of our movement of the ball and the physical ability to get behind them. We’re now looking forward to Saturday. It’s always fun to play in a league final.”
Santa Cruz (13-2-5), the SCCAL runner-up, faces Aptos (15-2-2) at Cabrillo College on Saturday at 5 p.m.
Scotts Valley, the third-place team in the SCCAL, scored on goals from Mattie Menchaca and freshman Naiya McQuain. The Falcons trailed much of the night against the favored Cardinals but fought back and were within reach at 3-2 until Moore’s second tally came in the 68th minute.
“We battled back but we came up short,” Scotts Valley coach Al Vandiver said. “The girls showed a lot of hustle and determination.”
The Cardinals, who posted a 3-1 win and a 2-2 tie versus Scotts Valley during league play, made sure not to take their opponent for granted.
“This was one of our best games of the year,” Laskey said. “We knew that if we won, we would play Saturday.”
Santa Cruz dominated most of the early play but the game remained scoreless through the midpoint of the first half. Then suddenly there was a flurry of goals.
In the 22nd minute, Moore put the Cardinals on top with a speedy run up the middle of the Falcons’ defense and broke in alone on keeper Bailey Matlock. She drilled a shot to the back of the net to open the scoring.
Scotts Valley rebounded with one of its best surges of the night. Menchaca capped a strong push with a superbly-placed shot in the 28th minute, sailing it just over the reach of Santa Cruz keeper Victoria Jones.
Santa Cruz responded in a minute. Moore dribbled through the defense and passed to Laskey, who converted in highlight-reel fashion for a 2-1 lead.
“My first one was quite a beautiful shot,” Laskey said. “I turned with my right foot and put in the top left corner.”
Santa Cruz’s midfield and defense bottled up Scotts Valley the remainder of the half and Laskey picked up where she left off when the second half began. She outran a pack of defenders and rocketed a ball right-to-left and beyond the reach of Matlock for a 3-1 lead.
The Falcons hung in and McQuain rewarded them with a goal to narrow their deficit to one.
“We kept battling,” Vandiver said. “Mari Stone and Sydney Inman in the back kept us in the game.”
Moore added an insurance goal for the final score. Both her tallies came on assists from Isla Hawkins.
“She was dribbling the ball and cut across,” Moore said Hawkins. “It was a takeover. I took the ball and rolled it out in front of me. I shot it with my left foot. It was good to get a bit of a cushion but you never want to be comfortable.”
The Cardinals were just too strong, with talent across the field and a solid bench. In the midfield, Laskey, Moore and Jade Hays controlled the turf. The defense was also sharp, with Jasmin Nguyen and Elliot Sandford leading the way.
“Elliot Sandford had a great game,” Gomez said. “She snuffed out a lot of plays and got us into the attack.”
Santa Cruz now looks ahead to the final.
“Saturday will be a chance to redeem ourselves against Aptos,” Moore said. “We want to win Saturday and then go kill it in CCS.”
The Score
Santa Cruz 4, Scotts Valley 2
Up next: SCCAL Tournament championship, No. 1 Aptos vs. No. 2 Santa Cruz
When: Saturday, 5 p.m.
Where: Cabrillo College
2020-02-14 08:48:32Z
https://www.santacruzsentinel.com/santa-cruz-beats-sv-storms-into-final-sccal-girls-soccer-tournament
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