LJ FH 0, CCA 1 - OT

Bridget Vallo (blue jersey), the Vikings' goalie,
shut out CCA through 30 minutes of regulation
play. (Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Goalkeeper Bridget Vallo and the La Jolla defense held Canyon Crest Academy, an Open Division field hockey power, scoreless through two halves of regulation play. But it wasn't enough, as the Ravens scored a scant 24 seconds into overtime and won on sudden death, 1-0, Tues., Sept. 5, on CCA's field.

"From a week ago, they played together so much better and their structure was good," said an elated Amanda Warford, first-year coach of the Viking program, afterward. "I'm really proud of them."

Warford employed more defenders in the second half of the scoreless duel, which strengthened the backside. It also had implications for the offense, which wasn't as potent.

"Bridget had amazing saves," said the coach. "She had a stroke (penalty shot) against her. They didn't score. They had corners (corner shots). They didn't score on her."

Vallo is a sophomore, her first year starting at goalie on the varsity.

The penalty shot came when Vallo apparently "stood on the ball too long" to freeze the play, according to Warford, and the referees awarded Raven senior Tamar Erving a shot. It's like a penalty kick in soccer, with the offensive player one-on-one against the goalie in front of the net while the rest of the players stay back and watch from behind.

Erving missed right.

That thin breath of air for the Vikings came with only 2:22 left in regulation time on the stadium clock.

In sudden death, which consists of only seven players from each team (instead of the full lineup of 11) facing off, the Ravens' Liza Shev, a senior forward, scored over Vallo's right shoulder into the upper part of the net on a reverse hit. It came at 9:36 on the clock, less than half a minute into overtime.

"We played Del Norte last week. We played good individually, but not as a unit," remembered Warford, who is also UCSD coach and coach of the Clash, a club team which some of the girls play on. "So this week we worked on structure.

"CCA is a high-ranked team. They played in the Open Division playoffs last year." She was very complimentary of her young team's improvement in the span of one week.

The La Jolla squad is young: Besides Vallo in goal, six more starters Tuesday are sophomores: Backs Serene Liu and Caeley Hickson-Long, midfielders Royce Epperson and Paxton Stolper, and forwards Malia Buljhi and Kate Hartford. Forward Jordan Wolf is also a 10th-grader.

Defender Izzy Jameson-Morris is a junior, as are midfielder Reagan Jetter and forward Carly Cuthrow.

Other juniors include midfielders Daisy Hathaway and Morgan Hansen, and Athena Tsai, who moves around position-wise.

The sole seniors are Nora Joyce, a midfielder, and Nikki Collins.

Warford newly named her captains: Joyce, Collins, Hansen, and Jetter.

The Vikings have not yet played a home game. They will do so Thurs., Sept. 7.