Boys Soccer: Crescenta Valley Eliminated by El Rancho in Quarterfinals

In reaching the quarterfinals of the CIF-Southern Section Division IV playoffs, the Crescenta Valley boys soccer team had gone the furthest of any team in school history.

So when the Falcons took on second-seeded El Rancho of Pico Rivera on Friday in pouring rain, a positive result would have only added to the outstanding season the Falcons have had.

Unfortunately for Crescenta Valley, its magical playoff run ended as the visiting Dons were too strong in earning a 3-1 victory to move to Tuesday’s semifinals.

“Each year the goal of the program is to get better. I’m so proud of the guys. We had a great season,” CV coach Kiel McClung said. “Back-to-back (Pacific League) champs and this is the furthest we’ve ever gotten in school history. Unfortunately luck is needed to win a championship. I’m a firm believer that we create our own luck. I guess the ball didn’t skid our way today.”

Things didn’t start of well for the Falcons (15-3-5), as El Rancho (21-2-1) got on the board in the 7^th minute.

Midfielder Erik Argueta took a left-footed shot at the edge of the goal box that hit the wet turf and snuck past CV goalkeeper Nick Ruiz.

El Rancho continued to attack and Ruiz made several key saves in the first half.

The Dons received a big break in the 35^th minute.

Francisco Lara made a cross from the corner and Falcons left back Chris Fierro accidentally hit the ball into his net while attempting to clear it.

The Falcons fought back however.

Just a minute later, Alex Berger crossed a ball from the left side that deflected off of El Rancho defender Tony Conde and went right to Pavle Atanackovic, who hammered home his 33^rd goal of the year.

At this point it appeared that the Falcons were energized and back in the match down by just a goal.

But things took a turn for the worse in the 39^th minute as Salar Hajimirsadeghi was given a direct red card for a foul.

 “At the beginning of the game I said no excuses so I don’t want to make excuses,” McClung said. “The referee is human, the players are human. People make mistakes. Unfortunately that was a big mistake. I still thought we had our chances after that. Whenever you’re down a man you want to try to find a goal early and get the boys motivated a bit. Unfortunately we were unable to get that goal to get back in the game.”

Being a man up, El Rancho continued to apply pressure on the Falcons.

El Rancho took a two-goal advantage in the 65^th minute when Argueta hit a left-footed shot from the left side of the Falcon goal box into the right corner of the net.

“They were a very technical team and they were able to expose us,” McClung said.

While the loss is certainly disappointing, the Falcons are excited about next season as Atanackovic, center midfielder Alex Berger and a number of other key players return.

“We return a lot of players, but I told our guys at the end, our senior class really turned this program around,” McClung said. “They won back-to-back league championships. Right now it stings and hurts and I feel bad for my guys, but when I look back on it I couldn’t be more proud of my guys.”