The Hart girls’ soccer team finally gave up a goal in Foothill League play, but the Hawks are still flying toward what looks to be a fourth consecutive league title.
Welcoming the Saugus Centurions to Hart High on Tuesday — with the Centurions looking to get revenge after falling at home in the reverse matchup on a last-minute winner – the Hawks wasted no time with three goals in the opening 25 minutes on their way to a 4-0 halftime lead.
When the final whistle blew, the Hawks walked away with a 5-1 victory, led by two goals each from freshman Kelly Wieckowski and senior Gianna Costello in what Hart head coach Brett Croft called a “statement game.”
“We were definitely expecting a battle today and a much closer game, but, you know, definitely made a statement with that result, and definitely very proud of my group, for sure,” Croft said.
Hart (11-5-1, 9-0) now just needs a positive result — meaning a win or draw — in one of its final three league games to clinch the league title.
Saugus (12-3-3, 7-2-1) is locked into second place after Tuesday’s results, two games ahead of Castaic in third. Centurions head coach Kai English said the goal now is to get ready for playoffs after falling short of trying to unseat Hart for the league title.
“The positive was we came back in the second half, we didn’t stop,” English said. “And that’s what we’ve got to take moving forward. We’ve got to learn from this. We’ve got to start responding better to adversity. Because I told the girls, we’re going to play some tough teams in playoffs, and we’re probably going to concede some goals and we’ve got to be able to respond a lot better than we did today.”
Wieckowski opened the scoring just six minutes in after the Centurions started the game off with a couple of chances themselves. Costello converted a penalty kick after 20 minutes and then senior Kylie O’Donnell made it 3-0 a couple of minutes later.
With about 10 minutes to go in the first half, Wieckowski got her second goal after getting her head first to a corner kick taken by junior Makenna Herrick.
“My team is just amazing at really getting those assists, and all their crosses are amazing,” Wieckowski said. “I’m just glad to put those in.”
Costello, a UC Irvine commit along with fellow senior Mia Rodriguez, completed her brace on a fastbreak chance with about 15 minutes to go in the second half.
Much of the second half saw Hart aiming to keep a clean sheet for a ninth time in nine league games, only for Saugus to get one across with about 13 minutes to go through senior Julia Glauser.
“I think they wanted to hold onto that (streak), but at the end of the day it’s soccer, so it’s kind of inevitable at some point,” Croft said.
The first half saw Hart control the game with possession, something that wasn’t seen by either team too much in the previous game when it was more open. Croft said much of that was due to the efforts of senior Adrielle Salvador in midfield, who doesn’t get the spotlight as much as goal scorers like Wieckowski and Costello but is just as crucial to Hart’s success.
“That kid is really the motor that makes us go,” Croft said. “We have five leaders on our team, but Adrielle is our singular captain, and that’s for a reason. She’s someone that has expertise at the highest level, she’s played in CIF finals before in the pouring rain and is about as selfless as it gets. So, she doesn’t get a lot of recognition a lot of times, but she’s what makes us tick.”
Hart can take the league title on Thursday when it travels to Castaic.
Saugus will look to lock up second place on Thursday when it hosts Golden Valley.
Here’s what else happened in Foothill League soccer action on Tuesday:
Girls’ soccer
Valencia 2, West Ranch 0: The Valencia Vikings (8-6, 4-5) beat West Ranch (4-7-3, 3-6-1) at home in a shutout, 2-0.
Taya Pickup and Ella Kirschner scored for Valencia.
The Vikings can inch closer to wrapping up fourth place and a playoff spot on Thursday when they travel to Canyon, while West Ranch is off and returns to league play Monday at home against Hart.
Canyon 2, Golden Valley 1: The Canyon Cowboys (3-8-2, 1-7-1) earned their first league win on Thursday with a 2-1 victory at home.
Reese Shaughnessy and Victoria Preciado scored for Canyon, with assists from and Jessica lyday and Angie Nava.
Golden Valley’s goal came from Ava Eilola on Malin Rodriguez’s assist. Courtney DeMartini had 32 saves in net for the Grizzlies, just shy of the 35 she recorded against Valencia earlier this season.
Boys’ soccer
Hart 2, Saugus 1: The Hart Hawks (12-1, 9-0) clinched the league title on Tuesday with a 2-1 win on the road at Saugus.
Lincoln Fritz scored for Saugus to tie things up at 1-1 in the second half before Hart won the game in the final minutes.
Canyon 2, Golden Valley 1: The Canyon Cowboys (4-9-2, 2-5-2) gave themselves a shot at the playoffs with a 2-1 road win at Golden Valley (6-7-2, 4-4-1).
Each team has three games left, and Canyon would have to win out and Golden Valley would have to drop all three games for Canyon to jump the Grizzlies in the standings.
Jonathan Ortiz scored twice to lift the Cowboys to victory, including the game-winning goal in the final two minutes. Danny Romero and Marcus Sayan had the assists while Kyle Mora had five saves in goal.
Anthony Padilla scored for Golden Valley on an assist from Daniel Ramirez.
Valencia 1, West Ranch 1: The Valencia Vikings (5-5-2, 2-5-2) are in the same boat as Canyon after their 1-1 draw on the road at West Ranch.
Oladipo Idowu had the goal for West Ranch while Diego Jovel scored for Valencia. Both goals came in the final minute of the game.
