AV Sports - High School Girls Soccer

Over the years, the Quartz Hill girls have had their share of trouble with the Hart Indians. For once, at least for a half, it appeared the Rebels were the better team in their CIF playoff game today. The Rebels missed out on several excellent scoring opportunities, and outshot the Indians 9-6 in the half. Alexa Hale, Ashlin Benesch and Chloe McDaniel did well in the attacking midfield, feeding the ball to Sonya Bernal and Stephine Galarze. Still, they came up empty each time and were tied 0-0 at the half.

The Rebel defense came under heavy pressure in the second half as Hart dominated and took 12 shots to only two by the Quartz Hill. The defense led by Chelsea Porter, Kaleigh Johnson, Lauren Misklevitz, and Kelsey Wiles in support of keeper Charity Blanton all played well in turning away the Indian attack.

The 0-0 score looked like it would hold up and force overtime until the 65th minute when Hart took a free kick from 20 yards out. Keeper Charity Blanton made one of her 13 saves by batting the ball out but a Hart forward was in the right spot and punched the ball into the far side of the net for a 1-0 lead. Hart's second and final goal came just five minutes later on a 25 yard direct kick that was a rocket and found the net just under the bar at the top of the net. Quartz Hill had an outstanding year as Golden league champions, advance to 2nd round of CIF and final record was 18-5-1 with 64 goals scored and only 18 against. They will be looking forward to defending their Golden league title next year.

Last year's experience in the CIF championship game may never be forgotten, but the Desert Christian girls eased their pain significantly with a dominating performance in this year's match, beating Calvary Murrieta 5-0.

One year ago, the #1 seeded Knights had to settle for a shared title when the championship match ended in a tie. In today's game, they forged a 2-0 lead by half time, and then buried a worn down opposition with 3 more goals in the 2nd half.

Kristyn Richards opened the scoring, knocking in a corner kick delivered by Robyn Estrada. Cara Esquiniza made it 2-0 when she headed in a flip-throw in by Jade Garcia. After the break, Garcia added a 2nd goal off another corner by Estrada. Kylee Hall scored the final two goals, the last one on Estrada's third assist of the night. Keeper Caitlin Aikenhead recorded 7 saves for the winners.

Coach Deann Lewis felt last year's title game experience, and being familiar with the intensity level of a championship match, helped the girls. "The talent level in this Division has improved so much," she added, "it has just made us improve that much more." Lewis was elated for her seniors. "I'm so glad to send them off like this, especially after last year."

Jordan Corlew contributed to this report.

All the scoring was over two minutes into the game at the annual Senior All Star game. Emani Steward of Knight High scored off of a long pass for the South just one minute into the game, and Littlerock keeper Breanna Dundes made it stand up for the 1-0 shut out. Dundes was awarded the MVP award, thanks to several excellent 2nd half saves.

Kaleigh Johnson did a commendable job in goal for the North squad. Johnson, the sweeper for the Golden League champion Quartz Hill Rebels, played in the net for the first time since she was 10-years old.

Winning the MVP award for the North was Desert Christian forward Robyn Estrada.