Girls soccer: CdM wins third straight PCL title

Steve Virgen

CORONA DEL MAR - Allison Harvey lost when fighting back tears at

halftime, but when it came to proving her worth to Corona del Mar High

girls soccer coach Ron Evans, she overwhelmingly answered the call.

Harvey, the CdM senior star forward who was benched in the first half

per Evans’ decision, scored in the 59th minute to provide the Sea Kings

with a 1-0 victory over visiting Northwood and their third straight

Pacific Coast League title.

Northwood trailed CdM by one point entering Thursday’s matchup.

“I was really (mad) I didn’t get to play in the first half,” said

Harvey, last year’s PCL co-Most Valuable Player who will play for Cal

State Fullerton next year. “It felt good to win the game being this is

the last league game I’ll ever play at this school. I hope (Evans) thinks

better of me now than he did before.”

Harvey’s fury was too much for the Timberwolves (8-9-4, 5-4-1 in

league). She made the most of a fancy scoring opportunity created by

junior Lauren Shepherdson. Senior Kristin Hanson tapped a Shepherdson

throw-in back to Shepherdson, who delivered a pinpoint cross in front of

Harvey. Running toward the goal, Harvey blasted the ball to the back of

the net.

“She’s MVP of the league, but we needed to light a little bit of a

fire,” Evans said. “She had a mediocre practice (Wednesday) and I wanted

her to get out there and battle for (playing time). And I think she did.

She wanted to get out there and prove it. She started to play like the

Harvey that earned her league MVP honors last year. We need her to be

doing that if we’re going to go anywhere in the playoffs. We needed her

today in order to take the league championship.”

The Sea Kings (12-4-7, 5-1-4), ranked No. 4 in CIF Southern Section

Division IV, also defeated the Timberwolves Jan. 22, 4-1, when Harvey sat

out the majority of the first half because of an injury but still scored

a goal and had an assist. After that game, she made the fearless

prediction the Sea Kings would win the title again.

“We’ve had several injuries and our ups and downs,” Evans said of the

Sea Kings’ season. “This is a big emotional victory for us. Despite

adversity, we still came back and pulled out what we needed to.”

CdM dominated the second half and controlled the tempo throughout a

physical game. Junior sweeper Paige Janes injured her ankle in the second

half, but she said she will be ready for the playoffs.

“The biggest thing has been our team unity,” Janes said of the

season’s success. “We stick together. That’s what has happened these past

two years. It feels great to come out here and know that you can depend

on your teammates. It’s such a big deal for us to win league and go on to

the playoffs.”

Hanson, Shepherdson, junior Jenny Long, senior Jaclyn Thayer and

freshman Vanessa Fallon consistently won balls in the midfield, and

maintained CdM offensive attacks. The Sea Kings outshot Northwood, 11-4,

in the second half as CdM squandered several scoring chances.

“Our weakness has been finishing,” Shepherdson said. “We have had so

many chances. Overall, we’ve had a good season. There’s always room for

improvement. I hope that we’ll peak sometime in the playoffs.”

CIF girls soccer playoff pairings will be announced Monday.

The Estancia High girls soccer team lost, 5-0, to visiting University.

The Eagles finished the season 2-19, 0-10 in league. Uni finished tied

for second in the PCL with Costa Mesa, which swept the Trojans this

season.