Page 4 June 10, 2021 EL SEGUNDO HERALD
Eagles from page 3
Once again, El Segundo’s offense pressured
the goal in the first half with ten shots on
goal, including five saves by the Monarch’s
Sam Holcomb. The game went to the second
half scoreless, but it didn’t take long for El
Segundo to strike. In the 3rd minute, freshman
phenom Bella Munoz crossed one to make it
1-0. In the 16th minute, Munoz was in the
right spot on a rebound strike attempt by
Ciera Doggett. She slid the ball in for a 2-0
El Segundo lead. Later on, Chelsie Charles
used a strong leg attempt that was too much
for the Monarch’s goalie to handle and score.
With the Eagles leading 3-0, they reversed the
field as time was winding down. Savannah
Schartz took advantage of an opening and
powered in a goal from twenty yards away
for the final score.
The win propelled the Eagles into their first
CIF Southern California Regional Championship
game against San Dimas. However,
in a year of firsts for the Eagles, winning
the Regional would not be one of theirs to
enjoy. El Segundo’s early lead disappeared
when San Dimas scored five unanswered
goals and defeated the Eagles 5-2.
El Segundo came out with energy, knowing
they could play with the Division’s top-ranked
team and had delivered San Dimas their only
loss of the year. The Eagles capitalized on
their vigor and pressure by scoring the game’s
The El Segundo Eagles pose with their CIF Southern California Regional Runner’s Up plaque.
Junior forward Chelsie Charles beats San Dimas’ Julia Maldonado during the CIF Southern California Regional Championship game.
first goal. The Eagles’ direct approach sent
junior forward Chelsie Charles and freshman
forward Bella Munoz into striking distances.
It paid off with a give-and-go by Charles to
Munoz, who powered one inside the right post
for the game’s first goal in the 18th minute.
It was 2-0 in the 30th minute when Ciera
Doggett found her way within several defenders
mulling over a slow-rolling loose ball.
As San Dimas goalkeeper Madison Morris
reached for the ball, Doggett gave the ball
a nudge that slowly rolled into the goal.
From there San Dimas, behind the play of
UCLA-bound midfielder Ally Lemos, scored
the next five goals to claim the closest thing
to a state championship.
Head coach Skip Jones was proud of his
shorthanded team that was playing without
starters, midfielder Michaela Turner and
standout defender Charlie Gerson. Both were
away at a club showcase in North Carolina.
The what-ifs they were there will always be
up for debate. “We weren’t supposed to get
as far as we did, let alone win a CIF championship.
We were a third-place team and
were underdogs throughout this playoff run.”
Very few teams that have finished third in
league play go on to win a CIF championship
or play in the State Regional championship
game of any sport. No doubt this soccer
team’s members will walk the halls this last
week of school, as Rock Stars as the school’s
only CIF champions for the 2020-21 year.
Eagles End a
History-Making Season
The boy’s basketball team made a statement
when they rolled through the Pioneer
League with an unblemished 10-0 record.
It was the first undefeated league campaign
for the Eagles in fifty-four years. They improved
their season record to 13-0 with their
hard-fought 71-67 win over the Norco Cougars.
It was the program’s second-longest winning
streak behind the 34 games the 1966-67
team won. The Eagles advanced to the CIF
Southern Section Division 3A quarter-finals
to face the top-seeded Shalhevet Firehawks.
The Firehawks play their home games in
a diminutive setting that the school most
likely uses the venue as an auditorium. The
Senior midfielder Trinity Parascandola was a key part of El Segundo’s run to the CIF Southern California Regional Championship game.
Firehawks start one player over six foot, don’t
particularly look imposing or athletic, but
looks can be deceiving. Though less than 200
fans were comfortably sitting in the stands
on the sides, the decibels were off the charts.
With a loud, encouraging fan base at a fever
pitch, the Firehawks fed off their energy and
enthusiasm and controlled the game. There
seemed to be a home court benefit for the
host team, and the Eagles may have bowed
to their advantage and fell 67-52.
The Eagles and Firehawks matched each
other basket for basket in the first quarter at
a frenzied pace. The Firehawks then had their
biggest quarter of the game by outscoring the
Eagles 26-13. Avaraham Halbert scored 17
of his team’s 26 points, including connecting
on five of seven three-pointers.
In the third quarter, the Eagles had plenty
of opportunities to make up a double-digit
deficit, but they failed to connect on their
outside game. The Eagles would make an
uncharacteristic 14 percent from beyond the
three-point line while their counterparts made
over half of their attempts.
Early in the fourth quarter El Segundo fell
behind by as many as 21 points but closed
the gap to just nine points with four minutes
remaining. The Firehawks held off the Eagles
and went on to shatter their hopes of an undefeated
season and hand El Segundo their
first loss of the year. CJ Hardy, who made
12-13 free throws, ended his high school
career with a game-high 29 points. In three
playoff games, he averaged 34 points.
Eagle Swimmers
Do Well at CIF Finals
El Segundo’s storied swim program can be
traced back to the 1950s. Eight members of
the 2021 advanced to the CIF Southern Section
Division 2 championship meet held at
picturesque Santa Margarita High School. The
girl’s team, which finished in the top third
of the 47 teams competing, was represented
by (senior) Gabriela Crother-Collardo and a
trio of freshmen, including Molly Beetner,
Emery Arnold, and Maya Viramontes. The
boy’s team, which finished fourth overall,
was led by (senior) Hirota Inoki, (junior)
Ranier Reczer, (sophomore) Alexander Cole,
and (freshman) Taisei Saito.
The girls’ team competed in the 200-yard
and 400-yard freestyle relay. Individually
Emery Arnold competed in the 50-yard
freestyle, and Gabriela Crother-Collardo
swam in the 200-yard freestyle races. On the
boys’ side, they swam in the 200-yard and
400-yard freestyle relay, which the Eagles
won. Individually Alexander Cole won the
200-yard freestyle in 1:39.54 and was third
in the 50-yard freestyle race, and he anchored
the winning 400-yard freestyle relay race.
Taisei Saito finished fifth in the grueling
individual medley that includes the butterfly,
backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle in that
order, and he had a respectable finish in the
100-yard backstroke. Hirota Inoki swam in
the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle races.
His 21.42 was good for sixth and less than
a second from winning the race.
Girl’s Lacrosse Loses
to Corona Del Mar
The Eagles, behind the scoring punch of
Syd Moeller and Grace Bonney, brought
home the program’s first girl’s lacrosse league
championship. They advanced to the first-ever
CIF Southern Section Division 2 playoffs.
Their first-round victory over Woodbridge
(Irvine) catapulted them into the quarterfinals
against second the seeded Corona Del
Mar Sea Kings. The Eagles fell behind early
on and fell to one of Orange County’s elite
programs 13-8.
The Sea Kings demonstrated why they
were seeded so high. With just 18 seconds
into the game, Kate Kittleson found an opening
and fired a shot into the net for a goal.
Later on, with El Segundo trailing 2-0, the
Eagles found the goal after pressuring Sea
King goalie Eleanor Spotts. Teagan Meyer
fired an overhand into the net off a rebound
to give the Eagles their first goal. A little
more than a minute later, Meyer scored the
equalizer on an assist from Maya Jaeger to
make it 2-2. The Sea Kings outscored the
Eagles the rest of the half 5-0 to make it 7-2.
El Segundo fell behind 11-2 before the
Eagles made a run. Grace Bonney scored
from inside, followed by Syd Moeller’s crossing
goal set up by Jaeger. Bonney’s second
goal made it 11-5. Moeller would score her
team’s final three goals, including one with
38 seconds left to make the final score 13-8.
The Eagles made a valiant effort from
the opening to the final horn against their
toughest opponent of the year. Nevertheless,
it was a great season that saw the Eagles win
a league title and win 13 games, both firsts
for the program. •
Eagle guards Preston Engel and Gideon Telahun double team Shalhevet guard Avaraham Halbert.