Girls Soccer: Jaguars Survive First Round Scare

The Alverno girls soccer team defeated Loara (Anaheim) 4-2 at home on Thursday in the opening round of the CIF-Southern Section Division VI playoffs.

Celina Minissian and Cassie Saavedra each scored two goals for the Jaguars. 

“It’s an amazing feeling to score twice in a playoff game,” said Saavedra. “Celina and I are playing really well together and the team looks great.”

Alverno jumped out to an early 2-0 lead when Minissian and Saavedra traded goals on each other’s rebounds. In the third minute, Saavedra fired a long shot that was deflected away by Loara’s goalkeeper right to the feet of Minissian, who tapped it in for a goal.

Two minutes later, Minissian beat a defender off the dribble and shot to the corner of the net, but the ball hit the goal post and bounced to Saavedra for an easy shot.

“We always try to keep running and follow shots, but it’s never paid off like it did today,” Saavedra said. 

With a comfortable two-goal lead, the Jaguars seemed content in playing kickball for the remainder of the first half and much of the second rather than maintaining possession against the lower-seeded Saxons.

“After the early goals we fell into a lethargic mood,” Alverno assistant coach Steve Lesse said. “We finally snapped out of it, but they gave us a scare in the second half.” 

Loara struggled to get any legitimate shots on goal, but in the 47th minute the Saxons finally got a break. They were awarded a corner kick and a midfielder made a nice cross to Diana Lara. Lara then made a strong header past goalkeeper Sammi Lorey.

Shortly after Loara’s goal, Alverno’s Mack Winslow was knocked off balance by a defender and fell to the ground with an apparent injury to her right knee. She left the game and did not return.

Any momentum remaining from the Jaguars early lead was erased in the 56^th minute when Loara again scored on a corner kick, this time from the opposite side. A perfect cross once again found an unmarked Saxon forward who headed a shot that deflected slightly off a defender and bounced in the goal.

“We didn’t know anything about this team coming into the game, but you can tell that set plays are one of their strengths,” said Lesse. “Our defenders need to do a better job of staying of marking up on corner kicks.”

With an entirely new game in hand, both teams picked up their energy level. Minissian created several shots for herself, but she was repeatedly denied by Loara’s goalkeeper.

 Finally, in the 69th minute, Minissian received the ball just outside the Loara penalty box and made a spin move to split two defenders. She shot a bullet to the corner of the goal, but the Loara goalkeeper made a diving stop. The ball ricocheted a few yards away and Saavedra came racing on to kick the rebound back in the net.

With less than a minute remaining in the match, Maha Abdallah ended a Saxon threat by clearing the ball far up the field. As the bounced high toward the opposite goal, Loara’s goalkeeper waived off her surrounding defenders. However, Minissian never gave up and, despite a height disadvantage, out-jumped the goalkeeper and headed the ball past her for a goal.

The victory advances Alverno to a second-round matchup with San Dimas next Tuesday.