LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE -- Shielded from the rain by a gymnasium roof
overhang, La Canada High girls' soccer Coach Louie Bilowitz stood
with a look of disbelief.
He stood for nearly two hours in a steady downpour, watching La
Canada play arguably its best match of the season. The Spartans had
done everything right except score.
La Canada dropped a 3-0 decision to visiting Monrovia in a
one-match playoff to decide the Rio Hondo League third-place team on
Friday.
"We were all over the net, but couldn't finish," said Bilowitz,
whose team will not qualify for the CIF-Southern Section Division IV
playoffs this season after advancing to the quarterfinals as a
wild-card entry last year. "It's a strange sport in that you can win,
4-0, and not be playing well. And then we lose, 3-0, in a game where
we were dominant.
"Last year, there wasn't one game we played as well as we did the
last two games."
Part of the problem for the Spartans (12-8-2, 6-4-1 in league) was that they ran into a hot goalkeeper for the second consecutive day.
Monrovia goalkeeper Brittney Alvarez made at least eight difficult
saves, and got some help when two shots by La Canada's Meghan
McGlashan either hit the post or crossbar.
During La Canada's 1-1 league deadlock against San Marino on
Thursday, San Marino goalkeeper Sarah Morgan made four tough saves to
force La Canada into an all-or-nothing match against Monrovia.
Monrovia (16-5-3, 7-3-1) got three goals from junior forward Lisa
Kevorkian, who raised her goal total to 40. Kevorkian scored twice in
the first 13 minutes, and completed the hat trick in the 75th minute.
La Canada tried, but couldn't equal Kevorkian's offensive output.
McGlashan took a shot that skipped off Alvarez and hit the right
post in the 26th minute, and then rifled a shot off the crossbar with
about one minute left in the first half.
"These last two games were the unluckiest for us in the history of
the world," said McGlashan, a senior midfielder. "We played amazing
in both games, and the goalkeepers made the saves."
The Spartans competed without junior forward Mackenzie Paxton, who
suffered damage to her left anterior cruciate ligament on Feb. 2.
Bilowitz, who coached the boys' program to three CIF titles, said
the Spartans progressed.
"We will get almost our entire team back next year, and we will be
good," he said.
* CHARLES RICH covers sports. He can be reached at (818) 637-3228
or by e-mail at charles.rich@latimes.com.
