Oaks Christian and Thacher girls, Grace Brethren boys fall in CIF-SS soccer finals

REDONDO BEACH — The plan worked for more than a half-hour.

Until, on the brink of halftime, it all fell apart for Oaks Christian High girls soccer team.

Duke University commit Mia Minestrella tallied twice as host Redondo Union scored three times in a five-minute span at the end of the first half to turn away visiting Oaks Christian, 3-0, in the CIF-Southern Section Division 2 final Saturday afternoon.

“It’s unfortunate,” Oaks Christian head coach Sebastian Alvarado said. “It’s an 80-minute game and for five minutes we let our guard down.”

The young Lions controlled the opening 30 minutes. Senior Erin Zeile hit the crossbar in the 19th minute. Junior Berkley Mape’s header from Sarah Spears’ corner in the 30th minute was just palmed over the crossbar.

“We started well,” Alvarado said. “Our game plan was to keep it tight for the first 20 minutes and get the crowd out of the game. Obviously, playing in their home field, they had a packed house. The girls came out and did what we asked them to do it.”

But the program’s 10th sectional final unraveled after it didn’t get a referee’s decision in the 36th minute.

More: Oaks Christian, Thacher advance to CIF-SS soccer finals with semifinal wins

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Minestrella headed in a goal to give Redondo the lead after a turnover that looked to be caused by a Redondo hand ball.

“We screamed ‘handball,’ ” Alvarado said. “We told ‘handball’ to the linesman. … If that handball gets called, they don’t score and hopefully we get to halftime even. Sometimes you get the breaks, sometimes you don’t.”

Two minutes later, Minestrella made it 2-0 on a full-field Redondo counterattack from an Oaks Christian corner.

The Lions defense dealt with the initial chance, but Redondo pounced on a clearance.

Freshman Shannon Davidson put the match away just before halftime with a fantastic finish inside the left post.

“I think it was a shock, too,” Alvarado said. “The ball’s been in their half and all of a sudden we’re two goals down in two minutes.”

The second half came and went without a breakthrough, despite Oaks Christian pressure.

“The girls kept their composure and fought hard in the second half,” Alvarado said. “We just couldn’t break them.”

Despite the loss, Oaks Christian (18-2-4) will move into the CIF State regional playoffs this week.

“Overall, it was a great experience for a lot of the younger girls,” Alvarado said. “At the end of the day, we lost to a good team.

“Of any team we played this year, their team speed showed. From the forwards, to the defense, and even the goalie … all positions on the field, they were quick.”

Unfortunate history for Thacher

The Thacher School girls soccer team was on the unfortunate end of a historic CIF-Southern Section final Saturday afternoon in Ventura.

Freshman Kayalily Penn scored six goals as Bishop Diego came from 5-2 down in the second half to edge Thacher, 6-5 in overtime, in the Division 7 final at St. Bonaventure High.

The highest-scoring soccer final in CIF-SS history, boys or girls, was decided by the player to score the most goals in a CIF-SS final.

“What I saw from Kayalily Penn at Bishop Diego was the most incredible individual effort I’ve seen in high school athletics,” Thacher head coach A.J. Yates said.

Penn, who plays for the Camarillo Eagles club team, has scored 52 goals this season, including an incredible 29 in the playoffs. Her cousin is former Stanford star Kiki Pickett, who plays for the Kansas City Current of the National Women’s Soccer League.

“We knew where they were going,” Yates said. “She’s phenomenal.”

Junior Hattie Hatton scored three goals, junior Jordan Yates had two goals and assist and freshman Catherine Feira had two assists as Thacher ended its season with the most goals scored in a losing effort in a CIF-SS final.

“It was a pretty unbelievable game,” Yates said.

The two Frontier League foes had already faced each other twice in league play.

The Toads led Bishop Diego 5-2 on Jan. 20, when it went on to win 8-2.

“This game, that wasn’t the case,” Yates said.

Bishop Diego handed Thacher its only previous loss — 4-3 in overtime — on Feb. 3 in Santa Barbara.

“We knew what they were capable of,” Yates said.

Thacher responded to Bishop Diego’s early 2-0 lead by surging ahead 3-2 before halftime.

“We made a decision,” Yates said. “We’ve been successful attacking, putting teams on their heels, so we changed formations.”

Yates dribbled through the defense and slotted home in the 33rd minute. Moments later, Hatton took the ball off an opponent and scored from 35 yards to tie the game.

Yates dribbled through traffic and finished from the penalty spot to put the Toads ahead, 3-2, in the 38th minute.

Hatton scored twice after halftime to put Thacher up 5-2, finishing from a tight angle after a Yates throw in and placing a 37-yard free kick in a corner, just under the Bishop Diego crossbar.

But unlike on Feb. 3, Bishop Diego did not wither. Penn scored from 45 yards to make it 5-4 in the 68th and tied the game from the penalty spot with three minutes left.

“We probably have a better chance of saving a PK than letting Penn attack in open play,” Yates said.

Pen then headed in Siena Urzua’s corner kick for the title-winning tally in the second half of overtime.

Thacher’s incredible season ends at 14-2-1. Yates and Hatton combined for 72 goals and 47 assists on the season.

“Unfortunately, we’re opting out of the regionals,” Yates said. “Our kids start exams on Tuesday.”

Members of the team leave this week to sing in Europe. Hatton and two teammates actually had musical performances on Friday and Saturday night. Another player was involved in a 13-hour national math competition during the game.

“The same way we demand excellence in so many other areas of this school, we’ve got a group of girls who are demanding excellence on the soccer field from themselves and their teammates,” Yates said. “It’s created a really positive culture I hope will continue.”

Grace Brethren boys edged in Div. 7

For a brief moment, the Grace Brethren High boys soccer team had its title-winning moment.

But Joseph Nandor’s potential winning goal from Jeremy Larson’s cross was disallowed in the final minute.

From there, top-seeded Los Angeles-Geffen Academy edged the visiting Lancers, 4-2 on penalty kicks, after a 1-1 tie in the CIF-Southern Section Division 7 final Saturday night at UCLA’s Wallis Annenberg Stadium.

“A very controversial call,” Grace Brethren head coach Matt Larson said. “No (video review) in high school unfortunately.”

The decision happened so fast, it wasn’t even clear why the goal was disallowed.

Larson thought it was for offsides, but video of the incident appears to show that wasn’t the case. The ball may have just gone out of bounds before Larson’s cross.

“It looked like we had it,” Larson said. “We definitely started to celebrate but (the flag) went up pretty quickly.”

Grace Brethren players immediately began to appeal to the referee, but play was waved on quickly to end the debate.

“Ref blew whistle for the boys to keep playing,” Larson said. “That’s how you get boys out of an argument.”

Related: Goalkeeping heroics lead Grace Brethren boys soccer team into first sectional final

Grace Brethren’s first boys soccer sectional final was a tight affair.

Geffen Academy took the lead in the first half on a “great goal,” Larson said.

“They broke down our defense and were able to get out wide,” Larson said. “The guy essentially had a one on one with the keeper.”

Facing a defense which had not conceded a goal in the postseason, the Lancers found an equalizer with 12 minutes to play.

Jeremy Larson was fouled in the penalty area and senior Kai Terentieff converted the spotkick to make it 1-1.

Geffen Academy hadn’t allowed a goal since Feb. 1.

Momentum shifted after the equalizer, as the Lancers searched for a winner.

“We definitely piled on the pressure from there,” Larson said.

Nandor, a defensive midfielder who had spent much of the playoffs in goal, started the game between the posts. He moved into midfield on the hour mark and, for a brief moment, thought he had scored the winner.

Trevor Thelen spent the final 50 minutes of the match in goal, keeping Geffen Academy from scoring a second, before Nandor returned to the goal mouth for PKs.

During the shootout, Larson and freshman Tyler Larson converted penalty kicks and Nandor saved Geffen Academy’s second attempt, but it wasn’t enough.

“Joe got his finger (on the decisive PK),” Matt Larson said. “He dove farther than I’ve ever seen him dive. “

Despite the controversial moment, Geffen Academy (13-1-2) is a worthy champion, Larson said.

“They were a great team,” Larson said. “That’s definitely the best team we’ve played this season.”

Grace Brethren (10-3-3) is looking forward to CIF State regionals this week.

“It’ll be fun,” Larson said.

Joe Curley covers soccer for The Star. He can be reached at joe.curley@vcstar.com. For more coverage of local high school sports, follow @vcspreps on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Oaks Christian and Thacher girls, Grace Brethren boys fall in finals