Free Kick

Jim Riggio GLENDALE SPORTS COMPLEX -- If Crescenta Valley High is going to win the Pacific League boys' soccer title, the Falcons won't be able to do so if they play like they did in their league opener against Hoover High Thursday. The Tornadoes outplayed the Falcons, but were unable to find the net, and thus lost, 1-0, at the Glendale Sports Complex. "We just did not play good at all," CV Coach Bill Papagno said. "We won ugly, but it's a win."

Jim Riggio GLENDALE SPORTS COMPLEX -- If the Crescenta Valley High girls' soccer team learned one thing Thursday afternoon it was that the Falcons can play with the best in the CIF Southern Section. Facing their toughest league opponent in defending league champion Arcadia, the Falcons battled to 0-0 tie at the Glendale Sports Complex. "There is no question we played our best game," CV Coach Bud Dain said. "It was so close, so tight. There is no love lost between CV and Arcadia.

PASADENA — The Flintridge Prep girls’ soccer team hoped to ride a wave of momentum from a big win on Friday into Saturday’s Prep League contest against Westridge. Rebels Coach Esteban Chavez said his team’s 3-0 win over the Tigers Saturday at Maranatha High came more in spite of the previous day’s monumental defeat of Chadwick than because of it. “We didn’t really take control of the game until the end,” said Chavez, whose team moved closer to solidifying at least a third-place finish in league with the win. “They got drained emotionally, physically and psychologically yesterday because they left everything [on the field]

Jim Riggio HOOVER HIGH -- Bad breaks happen in sports and in soccer it takes just one to cost a team a contest. It took just one handball in the goal box by Glendale High to send the Nitros home on a losing end, as the host Hoover High boys' soccer team earned 1-0 Pacific League victory Thursday. Hoover (6-7-4, 2-3) scored the lone goal of the match in the 42nd minute, as a cross by Rafi Pogosyan hit the hand of Glendale's Nick Varga, resulting in a penalty kick.

SOUTHEAST GLENDALE — While the game seemed all but over after the first 10 minutes of the second half, the final 10 minutes of Thursday’s Pacific League girls’ soccer match between Hoover High and host Glendale had all the intensity and action befitting the most heated rivalry in town. After getting within a goal of the Nitros, whom they had once trailed by as many as three goals, the Tornadoes perked up and honed in on the tying tally with eight minutes left to play.

Hoover-Glendale boys' soccer.Soccer: Tornadoes defeat archrival Nitros, 3-0, in Pacific League finale at Sports Complex.NORTHEAST GLENDALE -- The game was all but finished. About 10 minutes remained in Thursday's Pacific League finale between the Hoover and Glendale boys' soccer teams at the Glendale Sports Complex. The Tornadoes had already sealed a victory, but senior defender Narbeh Vartanian wanted more than a win. He wanted a shutout. So, as Nitros got set to take a free kick inside the penalty box, Vartanian, who was already substituted out, ran down the sideline to give instructions to his teammates.

LA CRESCENTA — Soccer is an 80-minute game — a fact that the members of the Crescenta Valley High and Glendale boys’ soccer teams are well aware of, but apparently prone to forget occasionally. There were several lead changes during Wednesday’s Pacific League match at Crescenta Valley and each goal scored seemed to act as a momentum shifter, but not in the typical context. First it was Crescenta Valley scoring early then disappearing for the remainder of the first half.

SOUTHEAST GLENDALE — Last season, the Glendale High girls’ soccer team couldn’t quite measure up to Pasadena. The Nitros lost both Pacific League meetings between the two teams and finished five spots in the standings behind the league-champion Bulldogs. On Wednesday, while not able to beat Pasadena, Glendale at least showed it has narrowed the gap a bit, playing to a 2-2 tie in the Pacific League opener for both squads at Moyse Field. “Under these conditions, I thought the girls did really well,” second-year Nitros Coach Dino Barbiera said.

BURBANK — Despite the fact it hosted the match, the Burroughs High boys' soccer team was the focal point of a welcoming party to its new home on Wednesday night — the Pacific League. The task of greeting the former Foothill Leaguers fell to Glendale High. While the Nitros would have liked nothing more than to initiate the Indians with a loss, it was Burroughs that notched a come-from-behind 3-2 victory. "We make one mistake and we collapse," Glendale Coach Carlos Santiesteban said.

LA CRESCENTA - While battling pain in both of his calves, Pavle Atanackovic seemingly needed to find another way to score. The Crescenta Valley High boys' soccer player used his head, lifting the Falcons to a first-round playoff victory. Atanackovic scored three goals on headers - including the match-winning tally three minutes into sudden-death overtime - to propel host Crescenta Valley to a 3-2 CIF Southern Section Division IV win against Laguna Beach on Thursday afternoon.

With winds wreaking havoc on Tuesday's CIF Southern California Division I Regional Championship opener, the Crescenta Valley High boys' soccer team needed to take advantage of any edge it could to find a scoring opportunity. Alex Berger did just that for the Falcons when the senior midfielder booted in a free kick in the 17th minute for which there would never be an answer, as the Falcons defeated host Central Section Division I champion Buchanan of Clovis, 1-0, to advance to the second round on Thursday.

Just a throw-in away from the Crescenta Valley High soccer field are several concrete walls. Most of the time, nearby residents occupy the territory to smash or loft tennis balls. For Crescenta Valley boys' soccer player Alex Berger, he's got other ideas concerning how to use the walls to help him improve athletically. Over the past couple of seasons, the standout senior midfielder has spent several hours a week practicing free kicks against the wall. He's found a target on the walls, pretending that it's a teammate.

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE - Deciding the winner in a soccer game that goes to penalty kicks is a lot like flipping a coin, Flintridge Prep girls' Coach Esteban Chavez said. The Rebels wound up on the wrong side of the coin Friday when they hosted Chino Hills, which finished third in the Sierra League, in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division III playoffs. Huskies goalie Merrick Ives was tough all day and unbeatable in penalties, stopping all four penalty shots that came her way to clinch an upset, 1-1 (2-0)

LA CRESCENTA - Despite giving away an entire first half and giving up two quick goals early in the second half, the Crescenta Valley High girls' soccer team still found itself taking meaningful shots late in Friday's CIF Southern Section Division II first-round playoff game. They were shots that could have prolonged the host Falcons' season, even if only for an overtime period, and the Falcons approached the task with appropriate urgency, but to no avail, as Long Beach Millikan escaped with a 2-1 upset.

LA CRESCENTA - While battling pain in both of his calves, Pavle Atanackovic seemingly needed to find another way to score. The Crescenta Valley High boys' soccer player used his head, lifting the Falcons to a first-round playoff victory. Atanackovic scored three goals on headers - including the match-winning tally three minutes into sudden-death overtime - to propel host Crescenta Valley to a 3-2 CIF Southern Section Division IV win against Laguna Beach on Thursday afternoon.

PASADENA - Given a second shot, Hoover High sophomore Tyra Williams and her Tornadoes didn't miss. The midfielder knocked in a floating 30-yard free kick for the lone goal Tuesday afternoon as Hoover defeated host Blair, 1-0, in nonleague play. "I didn't think I was going to make it at all," Williams said. "I just took the kick and hoped it would bounce in front of the goalie, but it went over and in. " Williams' game-winning shot in the 75th minute was taken as Vikings' goalie Amy Castillo was playing somewhat forward in the crease during the attempt.

BURBANK — Danny Cardenas wouldn’t call it perfect. But Crescenta Valley High girls’ soccer Coach Reggie Rivas did. And most that were cheering Cardenas’ exploits in the 52nd minute of Friday afternoon’s battle for the Pacific League title would likely call it a perfect shot as well. Regardless, it was most assuredly the most important shot taken on Friday, as the senior midfielder blasted a free kick from 22 yards out that found the back of the net and led the Falcons to a 2-0 victory against Burbank that claimed Crescenta Valley’s second consecutive league crown.

PASADENA — The Flintridge Prep girls’ soccer team hoped to ride a wave of momentum from a big win on Friday into Saturday’s Prep League contest against Westridge. Rebels Coach Esteban Chavez said his team’s 3-0 win over the Tigers Saturday at Maranatha High came more in spite of the previous day’s monumental defeat of Chadwick than because of it. “We didn’t really take control of the game until the end,” said Chavez, whose team moved closer to solidifying at least a third-place finish in league with the win. “They got drained emotionally, physically and psychologically yesterday because they left everything [on the field]

SOUTHEAST GLENDALE — While the game seemed all but over after the first 10 minutes of the second half, the final 10 minutes of Thursday’s Pacific League girls’ soccer match between Hoover High and host Glendale had all the intensity and action befitting the most heated rivalry in town. After getting within a goal of the Nitros, whom they had once trailed by as many as three goals, the Tornadoes perked up and honed in on the tying tally with eight minutes left to play.

LA CRESCENTA — Soccer is an 80-minute game — a fact that the members of the Crescenta Valley High and Glendale boys’ soccer teams are well aware of, but apparently prone to forget occasionally. There were several lead changes during Wednesday’s Pacific League match at Crescenta Valley and each goal scored seemed to act as a momentum shifter, but not in the typical context. First it was Crescenta Valley scoring early then disappearing for the remainder of the first half.