In his first four years as the Hart girls soccer coach, Guilherme Mitrovitch was a perfect 4-for-4 when it came to winning Foothill League titles.
Mitrovitch and the Indians added a fifth consecutive league title to the mantle Friday night with a 2-1 win at Canyon. Hart has also gone 48 straight league games without picking up a loss.
“It’s awesome, the girls were so excited,” Mitrovitch said. “It was really important for us to seal it tonight at Canyon. I’m very proud of the team and the program in general for what we’ve been able to accomplish.”
Elizabeth MacArthur put Hart (15-5, 8-0 Foothill League) up 1-0 midway through the first half, with an assist from Taylor Moorehead. Jill Maglio knotted the score up at 1-1 early in the second half, but Moorehead put Hart back out front on a combination piece in the 55th minute.
Izabel Reyes assisted on the game-winning goal.
“It’s not easy to win the league titles consecutively like we’ve been able to do,” Mitrovitch said. “You can tell people want to beat us, especially. You can tell by the reaction when they score. We’ve had the target on our backs.”
Defender Isabella Penaranda did not play after suffering an injury in Tuesday’s win over Valencia and is out indefinitely.
Hart travels to West Ranch Tuesday and Canyon (9-6-2, 5-3) hosts Saugus.
Valencia 1, West Ranch 1
A loss for the Valencia or West Ranch girls soccer teams Friday afternoon would’ve likely put an end to each team’s respective playoff bids through the Foothill League.
Both teams remain in the hunt, though they’ll need some help next week, with a 1-1 tie at West Ranch.
“We’re staying alive,” said Valencia coach Kevin Goralsky. “I felt like we were never able to get into a rhythm today but it was huge to come out with at least a tie. Without it, we were done.”
West Ranch (8-7-3, 2-3-3) was the benefactor of a bit of luck midway early in the second half.
Allyson Snyder’s shot from 35 yards out sailed at around eye level toward Valencia (7-6-5. 2-4-2) goalkeeper Camryn Arnott, who saw the ball graze her fingertips and into the back of the net.
“That doesn’t happen a lot at this level,” said West Ranch coach Jared White. “But it’s one of those things that, if you shoot, things happen. You don’t always have to wait for this perfect moment where the sea parts.”
Snyder’s goal broke a scoreless tie.
“She looked like she had it and it kind of slipped through,” Synder said. “I was pretty shocked. I didn’t think it went in.”
Just when West Ranch thought it would come out on the right side of luck Friday, Autumn Moore tied things up with a goal in the 65th minute that came indirectly off a corner kick.
“I think through league we’ve been able to see our team fight throughout the game and not let us get down because we’re down 1-0,” Moore said.
Valencia hosts Golden Valley on Tuesday.
Saugus 2, Golden Valley 0
Alana Berens tallied both Saugus (10-5-4, 3-2-3) goals as it picked up its second win this season over Golden Valley (2-12-2, 0-8) in the Centurions’ final home game of the regular season.
