It was a high-leverage matchup in Rio Hondo League girls’ soccer when San Marino High hosted La Cañada with the Titans looking up to the Spartans in league standings.
On the field it was all San Marino, as the hosts scored all of their goals in the first half while shutting out La Cañada for a 5-0 win in league play on Jan. 17.
“I think the team was eager to come out and play, and it showed as they were on their front foot from the very beginning,” San Marino coach Jaime Acuna said. “We just put them under pressure and didn’t let up.”
The Jan. 17 contest not only featured two of the three top teams in the Rio Hondo League. San Marino and La Cañada are among the top-ranked teams in their respective CIF Southern Section divisions. The Titans were ranked No. 3 in CIF-SS Division V polls, while the Spartans were No. 7 in the Division IV rankings released Jan. 16 ahead of their Rio Hondo League showdown.
Following the matchup, San Marino was bumped up to No. 2 in the Division V rankings and La Cañada slipped to No. 8 in Division IV, according to the latest CIF polls released Jan. 22.
San Marino, which improved to an overall 6-1-1 record and a 2-1-1 league mark following the win over La Cañada, controlled the action throughout the first half, and in a span of nearly 13 minutes, the Titans netted five goals. Titan sophomore Madison No led the way with two goals.
The first for No came in the 20th minute. It started with Sofia Rodriguez getting a pass down the left side and dribbling deep down toward the side line. The freshman then fired the ball with a raising strike toward goal, resulting in the ball hitting the underside of the crossbar. No had made a run and was right there on the goal line to put it in for the contest’s opening score.
“I was going into the back post because I knew [Rodriguez] had a really good ball, and she hit it over and I used my body to push it back into the goal,” No said.
The second goal came from another Titan sophomore in the 23rd minute. A La Cañada defender had possession of the ball deep in the box, but before she could clear it, Makayla Tokuchi stole the ball. Tokuchi took her time after that before beating the Spartan goalkeeper to her left with a shot on the ground to make it 2-0.
Two minutes later, No got her second goal and, once again, Rodriguez played a role. She struck a high floating cross into the box from the left side and it came down to No, practically on the goal line, who headed it in.
In the 31st minute, San Marino was awarded a free kick approximately 23 yards out on the right side. Titan Sasha Redshaw came up from her place anchoring the defense to take the kick. Facing a one-person Spartan wall, leaving lots of open goal mouth to work with, the senior struck the ball with power, shooting it into the left side and netting for a 4-0 advantage.
“I really think I took advantage of that,” Sasha Redshaw said of the one-Spartan wall. “Especially that close. I really think it should have been a couple more people, but I think that is what made it happen for the goal there.”
The final goal of the contest came in the 33rd minute, off the foot of Rodriguez. The freshman once again drove the ball deep down the left side before cutting in toward the goal with her dribble. Rodriguez then struck a low-driving shot, just off the turf, to beat the goalkeeper near post for the score.
Spartan Samantha Hosford’s shot in the 37th minute that forced a relatively easy save from Titan goalkeeper Callista Tan was the visitors’ best chance to score in the opening 40 minutes.
“One of the comments at halftime was that everyone was doing their job and helping when possible,” Acuna said. “So it was about just keeping shape and structure and everybody doing what they were supposed to do.”
Ava Kibbee minded the net for San Marino in the second half and preserved the clean sheet. She saw significantly more action than Tan as the Spartan attack showed more promise. However, despite that, and San Marino shifting players out of their regular positions, the hosts still captured their third shutout of the season and second in league.
“I think the switch from the 3-5-2 to a 4-3-3 really helped us stay compact and [allow us] to back each other up,” Sasha Redshaw said. “So, it was good to have that extra security back there.”
The biggest challenge for the Titan backline came in the first half, as they had to deal with Samantha Neumeier, who is committed to play at Oregon when her La Cañada career comes to an end, playing up front before she moved back in the second half to shore up the defense.
“I think [San Marino] just came out with a little more attitude and effort and got to the ball first,” La Cañada coach Kevin Neumeier said. “We made a few mistakes that cost us goals and we didn’t pick ourselves up. We just hung our heads. … We have to do a better job rebounding off of that — when you make a mistake and come out stronger.”
SAN MARINO 3,
SOUTH PASADENA 0
No scored twice to help the Titans secure a road win over the Tigers and improve to 7-1-1 overall and 3-1-1 in Rio Hondo League play on Jan. 19.
Tan and Kibbee combined for a clean sheet in the victory. Tan tallied six saves and Kibbee recorded eight saves as the seniors secured the Titans’ second straight shutout.
San Marino junior Charlie Redshaw also scored for the Titans, and Tokuchi and Rodriguez both recorded one assist.
San Marino’s recent league win over South Pasadena sealed a season sweep following a 1-0 victory in December.
The Titans took on Monrovia high for the battle of the top spot in the Rio Hondo League on Wednesday, Jan. 22.
Details of the league match against Monrovia will be included in the next edition of the San Marino Tribune.
First published in the Jan. 25 issue of the San Marino Tribune
