Already without its best defender, the Mountain View High girls soccer team couldn’t withstand an injury to another standout back in Thursday’s Northern California Division I semifinal. The fourth-seeded Spartans fell 3-0 at No. 1 Oak Ridge of El Dorado Hills.
“Losing Charis (Toney) was tough,” coach Jeff Panos said of the senior hurt in Mountain View’s Central Coast Section Open Division final win the week before. “Then our other rock at center back, Elechi Iroaga, who tweaked her hamstring Tuesday, took a big hit Thursday and went out 20 minutes into the game.”
Seconds later, Oak Ridge got its first goal. The Trojans scored again five minutes later and added a third goal before halftime.
The big lead allowed the Trojans “to sit back and defend” the rest of the way, Panos said. The Spartans still had four or five good scoring chances in the second half that “missed by inches” the coach added. They also nearly scored early in the first half when Allie Montoya took a diagonal run into the penalty box, firing a 17-yard shot saved by the goalie.
Although the NorCal title eluded his senior-laden team, the coach is pleased with what Mountain View (22-1-1) achieved.
“We made it to the (NorCal) quarterfinals two years ago and wanted to get beyond that, and we accomplished that,” said Panos, whose Spartans beat No. 5 Clovis North 3-1 at home Tuesday. “And being the No. 1 team in the section is pretty special.”
LA and SF also ousted
Los Altos, the third seed in NorCal Division III, saw its season end in the semis as well. The Eagles lost 4-2 at No. 2 Chico Thursday to finish 15-6-3.
“The girls made a phenomenal run in NorCals,” said coach Zanin Mahic, whose team topped No. 6 Campolindo 3-1 in the quarterfinals. “We came out flat in the first half, and Chico was a very aggressive team. We settled in during the second half and played one of our best halves of the year.”
St. Francis, the seventh seed in Division I, stunned No. 2 Carondelet 1-0 in the quarterfinals but couldn’t pull off another upset in the semis. The Lancers fell 1-0 at No. 3 Buchanan Thursday to end up 15-2-5.
