Centaurs Crash Beverly Hills' Party

On Senior Night at Beverly Hills High, it was a pair of Culver City seniors who had cause for celebration Thursday after teaming up for the game-winning goal with 7:45 remaining in the second overtime.

Jennifer Mair trapped a pinpoint through pass from fellow captain Lili Valverde, took one dribble and booted the ball past Beverly Hills goalkeeper Ida Trevino to complete the Centaurs' comeback and knock the rival Normans out of first place in the Ocean League. 

"It was basically a combination of passing down the field and Lili gave me a good square ball," Mair said of the decisive tally, her team-leading 30th goal of the season. "We were really pumped up for this game. We wanted to beat them on their turf and keep them from winning league." 

The loss dropped the Normans (16-6-2, 8-2-0) into second place in the final league standings, half a game behind Santa Monica (13-7-2, 8-1-1), which beat Hawthorne 4-0 on Thursday to wrap up its eighth straight league crown.

Culver City (19-5-1, 7-2-1) finished third and will also advance to the CIF playoffs, but Thursday's game was more about payback for a 2-0 loss in the first round of league play.

"They like to play kickball, whereas we're more of a technical team," Culver City head coach Scott Mair said. "We made a couple of adjustments [at halftime] but basically I told the girls to keep playing the way we were and we'd win."

Destiny appeared to be with the Normans when co-captain Nicole Star sent a free kick into the Culver City penalty area and Ashley Aviram tapped the loose ball past freshman goalkeeper Danielle Gutierrez to give the home side a 1-0 lead in the 33rd minute.

"We've been behind before, so we didn't panic," Jennifer Mair said. "That goal just made us more determined."

Beverly Hills goalkeeper Ida Trevino made a diving save on a hard shot by Mair from point-blank range moments before the whistle blew to end the first half. Mair had another great chance five minutes into the second half but again Trevino made the stop.

Mair's best chance, however, came on a partial breakaway in the 61st minute minute, but Star swept in to slide tackle the ball away before Mair could shoot. 

Culver City's pressure finally paid off in the 70th minute when forward Haylie Pina dribbled through two defenders and struck a low shot into the lower left corner of the net to tie the game. Pina had missed the previous two games with a concussion but returned to deliver one of the Centaurs' biggest goals of the year.

That, of course, set the stage for Mair's heroics.

"She's a great player and we did a good job defending her right up until the end," Beverly Hills head coach Ryan Franks said of Mair. "We just left her uncovered one time too many. Still, I'm really proud of our girls... they left it all on the field tonight."

Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and Culver City all advance to the Southern Section Division 4 playoffs, which begin next Thursday. The seedings will be announced Monday. 

Boys Soccer

Culver City's boys squad also beat Beverly Hills by a 2-1 count Thursday to clinch third place in the Ocean League. All three goals were scored in the first half.

Ernie Reynoso and Christian Campos scored off assists from Julien Prestridge and Rayburn Tilman for the host Centaurs (8-13-2, 5-5), who finished behind Santa Monica and Hawthorne.