On Monday, the CIF-Southern Section 2018-19 preseason boys and girls soccer teams to watch lists were released with one Santa Clarita Valley boys team and three girls teams making the cut.
Hart boys soccer was mentioned on the Division 3 list. Last season, the Indians finished atop the Foothill League, going undefeated in ten games (9-0-1) with the lone tie coming against Canyon late in the season.
The Indians return the top Foothill League scorer and 2018 All-SCV boys soccer Player of the Year, Lawrence Luna. Luna finished the regular season with 34 total points on 15 goals and four assists, according to MaxPreps.com
Making a run in the CIF-Southern Section Division 4 playoffs, Hart fell in the semifinals against Indian Springs, finishing the season with an overall record of 18-7-2.
With the impressive year, the Indians move up to Division 3 after playing in Division 4.
The Hart girls team were named to the CIF-SS Division 1 list after claiming the Foothill League title last season. The Indians went undefeated, going 10-0-1 in league play and 19-6-1 overall.
The girls team loses 2018 All-SCV girls soccer Player of the Year Taylor Moorehead to graduation, leading goal-scorer Izabel Reyes, who has opted to play Academy, but return 1st Team All-SCV goalkeeper Kaycie Priske.
“The girls that are returning have been in the program for a while,” said Hart coach Guilherme Mitrovich. “I think the trend of this team is to adapt. I have a lot of players that can play and I don’t have one or two standouts that I have had in the past. I have an unselfish team that works well with each other, that knows how to fill the expectations and come back to repeat the success.”
Hart’s previous season was cut short in the second round of the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs, where they fell to Santiago 2-1.
The Valencia girls soccer team made the Division 2 list after making it to the second round of the Division 2 playoffs last season.
Finishing in fourth place in the Foothill League standings with a record of 4-5-2, the Vikings were able to score the fourth most goals (30) during the regular season and added another three in the playoffs.
”Last year, we played a No. 1 seed, and I think the Foothill League is open of the toughest leagues around,” said Valencia girls head coach Kevin Goralsky. “So no matter where you get seeded in the playoffs we know that we are going to be prepared for whatever team we draw.”
Dropping only two league games and five games overall, the Santa Clarita Christian School girls soccer team was named to the Division 7 watch list after a second-place finish in the Heritage League behind The Palmdale Aerospace Academy.
The Cardinals were led by a freshman Sydney Boswell, who scored 34 goals.
“I think she’s going to be important,” said SCCS girls soccer coach Casey Phillips. “She knows her role as a goal-scorer and her production will stay the same, but she will take on a creator role more this season and set up more opportunities for other people.”
The Cardinals reached the CIF-SS Division 7 semifinals, where they fell to Azusa.
“We have some key returners and some bench players that will take on a bigger role this year so it will be more of a rebuilding year and we are looking forward to seeing where we end up this year,” Phillips said.
