Page 6 March 3, 2022 EL SEGUNDO HERALD
Parade from page 3
a free-kick and buried it into the net for a 1-0
El Segundo lead. The Eagles extended their
lead when Munoz sent a corner kick towards
the scrum of players in front of the goal.
Chelsie Charles was in the perfect position
to head it in for a 2-0 with 16:19 remaining
in the first half.
The Raiders pressured the El Segundo
defense, but backline defenders Elizabeth
Kapoor, Shelby Lyon, and Ava Adlam filled
the passing lanes and helped out Tanner
Ijams in goal. At 10:50, Sonora’s Danielle
Naromi slid a pass into the net to narrow
the Eagle’s lead to 2-1. In the second half,
Sonora’s Kristen Smith’s goal nailed a tying
goal to make it 2-2. But the Eagles responded
with a push of their own. Bella Munoz took
a pass from Chelsie Charles and hammered
one to the back of the net for the eventual
game-winning score. Nili Kovacs had three
second-half saves to ensure the victory that
sent the Eagles to their second consecutive
CIF-SS championship appearance.
The Eagles faced their league nemesis in the
finals. West Torrance, the top-ranked team, had
defeated El Segundo eight consecutive times,
including three Pioneer League matchups. Last
season they outscored the Eagles 11-0 in two
of those wins and outlasted them 2-1 in their
recent league game a couple of weeks ago.
The Warriors’ stranglehold of slicing through
the first four playoff games by outscoring
their opponents 17-1 came to a crashing end
against El Segundo. The Eagles solved the
Warriors’ mystic of defeating them with a
2-0 win over the Division’s top-seeded team.
The game throughout was played at breakneck
speed that was paced by West Torrance’s
assault on El Segundo’s goal. They took some
12 shots on goal in the first half, which Tanner
Ijams saved six of them. The Warrior’s top
scoring threat Cherrie Cox, who had come
into the game with 40 goals on the season,
was held in check with just two clean shots,
one on a penalty kick.
El Segundo played a methodical game and
was well planned that allowed the offense to
work on their passing lanes. That plan resulted
in a well-executed shot attempt, from the
top of the box, by Bella Munoz, whose shot
attempt sailed high just over Warrior goalie
Lucy Hasenmayer and into the back of the
goal for a 1-0 El Segundo lead.
In the second half, with 24:19 remaining
in the game, the Eagles utilized their favorite
play to score once again. El Segundo had a
corner kick awarded to them. Bella Munoz
sent her pass to El Segundo’s leading scorer
to the middle. The reigning CIF Player of the
Year, Chelsie Charles found her way through
the mass of players and booted it into the
goal for a 2-0 lead.
West Torrance ramped up their offense
with another barrage of shots at goal, including
back-to-back point-blank attempts
that Tanner Ijams blocked and saved. Ijams
said afterward that she had had a lot of help
from the backline all game long. “On that
play, everyone collapsed and helped out on
helping to interfere with those attempts.”
Ijams also credited the teamwork it took to
stop the Warriors shot attempts. “We did a
good job of holding the center and forcing
wide attempts.”
Ijams, just a sophomore, had been splitting
her time with Nili Kovacs all season long.
Ijams would play the first half and Kovacs
the second half, but during the playoffs,
Ijams had settled in full time. Kovacs, who
was in goal during the Eagle’s title run a
season ago, was asked to replace Ijams in
the second half of this year’s title game. In
one of the most unselfish acts, Kovacs told
head coach Skip Jones that it was best, for
the team to win, to leave Ijams in goal. Jones
said afterward, “It was one of the classiest
and selfless acts I’ve seen.”
With time running down, the Eagles held on
to shutout one of the top teams in the South
Bay and claimed their second consecutive
CIF title. It marks the first time in memory
that the school has won two CIF championships
within a week of each other; the girls’
water polo team won one the week before.
With the celebrating players mobbing
each other, Coach Jones was all smiles. He
said the team knew what it would take to
be a champion. “Last season, we had no
idea what to expect. This season they knew
what it would take, and they played up to
their strengths and capabilities it was a total
team win.”
The Eagles will now set their sights on
the CIF Southern California Regional that
started Tuesday. They had a bye in the first
round and played the San Pasqual (Escondido)/
Portola (Irvine) winner today. Should
the Eagles win, they would host the final
on Saturday.
Water Polo Girls Lose in Southern
California Regional Final
The CIF Southern Section Division 4
Champion El Segundo Eagles were seeded
seventh in the CIF Southern California
Regional. They hosted and defeated secondseeded
La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad) Mavericks
11-7 in a tight first-round game against the
top-ranked Division 2 San Diego Section
team. The Mavericks took a 2-0 lead before
El Segundo found their rhythm and took a
brief 3-2 lead. The game was close into the
fourth quarter when Emmie Ramirez scored
three goals to put the game away.
El Segundo caught a break when they faced
the Carlsbad Lancers in the semi-final round.
The Lancer’s pool was not playable and
therefore was forced to make the trip here to
face an Eagles team that was 13-1 at home.
In a low-scoring game, the Eagles outlasted
the Lancers 8-5. It was the lowest-scoring
game of the year for the Eagles. In the first
period Alyssa Mullane, Emmie Ramirez, and
Avary Torres scored to give the Eagles a 3-1
lead after one period of play.
The Eagles looked tired against a physically
draining Carlsbad team that shut out
the Eagles in the second period. It was the
first time they had been shut out all season
long in a quarter. Head coach Nila Ward
gave her team an insightful and encouraging
message at halftime. “I told them to play as
they have all year long and reach down and
find the energy to compete.”
The Eagles came up with big stops and
turnovers. Stephanie Rodriguez gave the
Eagles a 4-2 advantage with 1:42 remaining
in the third quarter, and Ramirez’s goal
with 18 seconds gave El Segundo a 5-3 lead.
Carlsbad’s Kendra Ammon scored early in a
frantic fourth period to cut the lead to 5-4.
Ramirez’s backhand gave the Eagles a 6-4
advantage. After the Lancers cut the lead to
6-5, Rodriguez scored with 2:17 remaining.
Emmie Ramirez, who scored a game-high
four goals, iced the game with her fourth
goal with 1:09 left in the game.
El Segundo advanced to play the secondranked
San Diego Section Division I team
La Jolla Vikings on the road in the final. The
Eagles ran into a team on a mission, and the
Eagles were never in this one falling 16-7.
Still, the Eagles had a remarkable season
setting a program record with 28 wins and
advancing to the CIF Southern California
Regional final. With just one starting senior
in the lineup, the Eagles should be in a position
to repeat a league title and possibly
another CIF title. •
The Single-A Scrappers will be pals forever. The Sneaky Snakes marched proudly down Main Street.
Eagles from page 3
Emmie Ramirez helped lead the Eagles to wins over La Costa Canyon
and Carlsbad in the CIF Southern California Regional Tournament.
The Eagles had a rainbow of a season finishing with 28 wins, a league title, a CIF title, and finishing second in the CIF SoCal Regional Tournament.