Season Ends for Centaurs Soccer

The Culver City High School girls soccer team entered the CIF Southern Section Division 4 playoffs on a hot streak, having allowed just one goal in its final five regular season games. The Centaurs seemed to be kicking on all cylinders and were poised for a run at the title.

However, their 2011-12 campaign came to an abrupt end Thursday in the first round with a 4-3 loss to Patriot at Culver City High. After falling behind by two goals early the Centaurs stormed back to take a 3-2 lead with 30 minutes left, but the Warriors scored twice in a five-minute span midway through the second half and preserved the one-goal margin until the final whistle.

Coach Scott Mair, whose daughter Jennifer scored 33 goals as a senior captain last year, was almost at a loss for words after his team's defeat.

"That wasn't our team out on the field today. We didn't look like the team that went 8-2 in league. We weren't even close to that... too many mistakes and we paid the price."

Patriot (8-9-7) dictated the tempo of the contest for much of the first half, scoring twice to build a two-goal advantage. Culver City (14-8-1) shifted momentum to its side on freshman striker Jasmin Flores' breakaway goal two-and-a-half minutes before halftime. Senior defender Shandell Martinez added another moments later to tie the game 2-2.

"We have to play just like we did those last two minutes," Mair said at halftime. "It took us 37 minutes to wake up, but the girls are pumped up now."

The Centaurs carried their inspired play into the second half and took their first lead at the 10-minute mark on a goal by sophomore Elizabeth Benitez. The Warriors didn't quit, however, and netted the equalizer about 10 minutes later. Patriot regained the lead, 4-3, five minutes later when a player was left unguarded at the side of the net. Although the Centaurs pressed hard for the goal that would force overtime, they couldn't convert before time ran out.

"I thought we could've won. We had a lot of chances but we were a bit unlucky sometimes," Centaurs goalkeeper Daniella Gutierrez said. "We needed to work on our marking, we weren't really marking all of their players. Other than that we did good. We were good on the corner kicks."

Despite the defeat, it was a successful season for Culver City, which finished second behind Beverly Hills in the Ocean League and dealt the archrival Lady Normans their only league loss, 3-0, in their regular season finale. 

"We needed to communicate a little better, but besides that my team had my back so it was good," Centaurs defender Cori McGowens said. "They were a physical team and we had to be physical back, but we didn't get the calls our way. There was a little acting going on but that's part of soccer."

Patriot, located in Riverside, finished runner-up to Bloomington in the Sunkist League. The Warriors advance to the second round Feb. 22. against the winner of Friday's game between Canyon Springs and Calvary Chapel of Santa Ana. Also playing first-round games Friday are the Centaurs' league rivals Beverly Hills and Santa Monica. The Normans host L.A. Baptist while the third-place Vikings travel to Laguna Beach.

"It was pretty tough," sophomore midfielder Monica Patton said. "I thought we had it but in the end they just got a few goals on us that we couldn't get back. They played a very physical game which can be hard when you have a lot of injured players to begin with."

Sophomore striker Hayley Pina ended the season as the team's leading scorer with 12 goals and Flores added 10.

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