A resurgent season by the Dos Pueblos High girls’ soccer team ended with a 1-0 loss to La Mirada in the opening round of the CIF-SS Division 3 playoffs.
The Chargers finished with a 13-5-5 overall record and captured an automatic bid into the postseason under first-year head coach George Hedricks, but could not find a goal in their playoff opener despite applying consistent pressure on the La Mirada goal.
“I just think we didn’t finish. We did a good job of creating opportunities,” Hedricks said. “Sometimes when these teams from down south come a little farther north they don’t know what to expect. We’ve seen that in other sports as well.”
Dos Pueblos controlled possession in the first half and received an excellent performance from junior goalkeeper Darlene Aguilar. However, the Chargers struggled to put their shots on target and the two teams went into the locker room with a scoreless tie.
“I feel like our defense has been our backbone all year and kept us in a lot of games,” Hedricks said. “Finishing has probably been something we’ve worked the hardest to fix all year long.”
The Chargers continued to press offensively early in the second half, with Paige Ferro and Hazel Burgess each putting shots on goal. The breakthrough came off a La Mirada corner kick in the 53rd minute. The Matadores converted a penalty kick following a handball in the box. Zoey Santiago placed the shot into the bottom right corner for the game’s lone goal.
“We just made one little mistake in the middle of the field that ended up leading to the ball getting down there for the corner kick,” Hedricks said. “Anytime there is a corner kick you hold your breath because anything can happen.”
Dos Pueblos’ defense held firm the rest of the way, but the offense was unable to find an equalizer. La Mirada advances to face Valencia in the second round.
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