The Anzar High girls’ soccer team remains a thorn in Pacific
Collegiate’s collective side. A year after the Hawks spoiled the
Pumas’ postseason plans when they battled the private Santa Cruz
school to a scoreless tie in the final game of the 2010 season
— a tie that prevented PCS from both winning the Coastal
Athletic League title and earning the league’s one and only playoff
bid — Anzar again managed to control the midfield last Thursday and
implement enough of a defensive game plan to silence its CAL foe by
a 2-0 margin.
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SAN JUAN BAUTISTA
The Anzar High girls’ soccer team remains a thorn in Pacific Collegiate’s collective side.
A year after the Hawks spoiled the Pumas’ postseason plans when they battled the private Santa Cruz school to a scoreless tie in the final game of the 2010 season — a tie that prevented PCS from both winning the Coastal Athletic League title and earning the league’s one and only playoff bid — Anzar again managed to control the midfield last Thursday and implement enough of a defensive game plan to silence its CAL foe by a 2-0 margin.
It’s a win that improves the Hawks to 2-0-1 against the Pumas the last two seasons, but more importantly, it keeps the San Juan Bautista high school on track to winning its own CAL title, and earning its own postseason appearance.
“It’s a good win for us and it sets us up well,” said second-year head coach Carlos Flores, whose team finished in third place with a 6-3-1 league mark last year, behind both runner-up Pacific Collegiate and league champion Gonzales.
Anzar lost just two seniors from last year’s team that finished 10-6-1.
“I knew this was gonna be a tough game for us, but one that would help us the rest of the way,” Flores later added. “I’m glad we got the first one out of the way.”
Last season’s schedule didn’t pan out early on for the Hawks. A pair of losses to Gonzales and York forced Anzar to play catch-up for the remainder of the season, where as its third loss to Gonzales in early February all but kept them from advancing to the postseason.
But with the league champion Spartans finishing with two losses last year, Anzar was forced to reflect on its loss to York, which finished in fourth place in the CAL a year ago and kept the Hawks out of the postseason discussion.
“That was tough,” Flores said of the defeat to York, which finished three wins behind the Hawks in the league standings.
Beating those you’re supposed to beat is a hallmark for playoff-bound teams, though, and at 3-0 in the CAL, with shutout victories over Marina (11-0) and Kirby (4-0), the Hawks remain on schedule this season.
Their 2-0 victory last Thursday against Pacific Collegiate only further continued the trend.
Although the Hawks managed to control much of the midfield, it didn’t always lead to scoring opportunities against the Pumas, who banked one shot off the right post in the first half, then failed to catch up to a 50-50 ball against Anzar keeper Alex Flores in the second half.
Meanwhile, Brianna McCain made it a 1-0 game in the 5th minute off an assist from Brianna Miltimore, a goal that gave the Hawks “huge momentum,” while Sydnee Masuen tacked on a second score just 10 minutes later following an assist by Lauren Bellone.
Flores noted how the Hawks weren’t always able to crack through Pacific Collegiate’s back line. But when they did, they capitalized.
“We took advantage of the [opportunities] we did have,” he said.
The Pumas were unable to do the same, however. Anzar’s back line of Sabrina Perez, Mia Scofield, Monica Medina and Mali Gonzales, among others, kept PCS off the scoreboard, and prevented Pumas leading scorer China Armstrong from finding the back of the net.
“They can attack. They have great attacking,” Flores said, praising Armstrong in the process. “But my defense adjusted to her and they did well stopping her.”
The Hawks have shut out three of their last four opponents, and will have the chance of extending that streak this week when they visit Trinity Christian and York on Wednesday and Friday, respectively.
Kickoff is 4 p.m. on both days.
Although its match with defending league champion Gonzales was postponed earlier this year — which could force both teams to play a three-game week later this season — Anzar is scheduled to square off against the Spartans again on Jan. 27 at home.
“We just need to take care of our business,” Flores said.
