GLENDALE — Chances of potentially moving further into the postseason appeared good for the members of the Flintridge Prep girls’ soccer team.
Nearing the midway point of the second half, the Rebels nursed a one-goal lead. Their lead vanished, and then their season came to a close in overtime.
Flintridge Prep suffered a 2-1 overtime road loss to Martin Luther King in a CIF Southern Section Division III first-round match Thursday afternoon.
Martin Luther King (19-3-3) scored the match-winning goal in the 92nd minute. The Wolves, who finished second in the Big VIII League behind top-seeded Corona Santiago, will next face La Mirada or Beverly Hills in a second-round match Tuesday.
“It was a battle for us,” said Flintridge Prep Coach Esteban Chavez, whose team finished 8-9-1 and third in the Prep League this season behind Chadwick and Westridge. “We showed up to play and not to get beat.
“Their team has a lot of club players, and they had more possession of the ball. We were so close to moving on.”
Flintridge Prep grabbed a 1-0 lead when sophomore Alina Okamoto scored off an assist from Brooke Elby in the 43rd minute. However, Martin Luther King knotted the match in the 57th minute.
Despite being outshot, 20-2, Chavez, who also coaches the school’s boys’ program, said the Rebels gave the Wolves all they could handle although they hadn’t competed for nearly 10 days.
“We were able to go out there and play them tough,” said Chavez, who got 20 saves from freshman goalkeeper Stephanie Bathke. “They just had more [scoring] opportunities than we did.
“At least we got here. I thought we played a difficult schedule that got us going in the beginning [of the season].”
Flintridge Prep didn’t qualify for the postseason last season after recording just six victories. It last appeared in the playoffs in 2007.
