Girls soccer regionals: Moorpark advances to Division III semifinals
Three first-half goals were enough to keep the Moorpark High girls soccer team’s season alive Tuesday night.
Kamryn Beaver, Naomi Tobias and Ella Navarrete scored as the top-seeded Musketeers held off visiting Upland-Western Christian, 3-2, in the CIF-State Southern California Division III regional quarterfinals.
In a matchup of the CIF-Southern Section Division 3 and Division 4 champions, Beaver and Tobias gave the Musketeers a 2-0 lead inside the first 10 minutes, while Navarrete followed with the eventual game-winning goal.
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“That was obviously a test,” Moorpark coach Mike Alexander said. “They obviously know how to win games. I feel like they had nothing to lose.”
Moorpark improved to 6-1 in state regional play under Alexander, who coached Moorpark to the CIF-State Division II regional championship in 2017.
Moorpark will host fifth-seeded Bishop Amat (24-4-3) in Thursday’s semifinals.
GIRLS
San Diego-Westward 1, Oaks Christian 0: The Lions were punished on a turnover in midfield late in the first half and couldn’t recover, suffering elimination on the road in the CIF-State Southern California Division I regional quarterfinals.
“Playing at this level, one mistake can cost you a game,” Oaks Christian coach Sebastian Alvarado said. “These teams are pretty good. They’ll punish you for it.”
The search for an equalizer in the second half ended fruitlessly against the CIF-San Diego Open Division champion, despite reinforcements.
Sophomore attacker Avery Oder, set to miss the match due to a conflict with a U.S. Soccer regional ID camp, arrived at halftime and joined the fray.
“Her dad drove her down,” Alvarado said. “She got there right before half and played the whole second half. We were all over them in the second half. We just couldn’t put one away.”
The Marmonte League champion finished its season 19-4-1.
San Marcos 2, Westlake 1: The seventh-seeded Warriors took the lead just seven minutes into their first CIF-State regional match, when Lex Sahagian found the net.
But the CIF-San Diego Open Division semifinalists responded by taking the lead with two first-half goals and holding on for a 2-1 win in the Division II regional quarterfinals.
The winner was a header off a corner kick from Michigan-bound senior Gabrielle Prych.
“We knew she was super dangerous on those,” Westlake coach Frank Marino said.
Searching for an equalizer, Westlake struggled to create chances.
“It was a pretty even game,” Marino said. “But we didn’t get a lot of penetration in the final third. We didn’t have our best today, but we played really hard and competed.”
Westlake was without its leading attacker, freshman KK Chowana — who had 14 goals and 10 assists — due to a conflict with a U.S. Soccer regional camp.
“It’s disappointing that there’s not more collaboration between US Soccer and CIF,” Marino said. “Kids should never be put in that situation.”
Westlake finished its season 15-4-3.
“It’s a bummer we didn’t have the full squad tonight, but our seniors played hard. It was a really good year,” Marino said.
BOYS
Santa Maria 5, Agoura 1: The Chargers were in a good position, leading 1-0 on the road in a matchup of fourth and fifth seeds behind Devin Bening’s goal.
But Santa Maria scored five second-half goals to end Agoura’s season in the Division 2 regional quarterfinal.
The Marmonte League champion finished 15-7-3.
Joe Curley covers high school, collegiate and professional football for The Star. He can be reached at joe.curley@vcstar.com. For more coverage, follow @vcspreps on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Girls soccer regionals: Moorpark advances to Division III semifinals
