RSS Feed
|
The Camarillo Acorn Thousand Oaks Acorn Moorpark Acorn - Simi Valley Acorn |
|
|
|||||||
|
Mission accomplished
When a team loses a CIFSouthern Section title match, as the Chargers had done the previous two seasons, they are given runnerup pins for their achievement. But if a team is victorious, players are awarded with a CIFSS championship patch, one that's typically ironed onto letterman jackets to be remembered for all time. On Monday night at the Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool in Long Beach, the girls from Agoura finally got their patches. The Chargers (26-6) defeated top-seed Laguna Beach 11-10 in a thrilling Division II championship match. AHS senior utility Emily Schmachtenberger scored the winning goal with 2.9 seconds remaining, and senior goalkeeper Sara Gralitzer knocked away Laguna Beach's final shot attempt as the buzzer sounded, setting off a wild celebration on the Agoura bench and in the stands.
"Every year we came in second, and (the pin) is what we got," Clark said. "We were so sick of receiving that for getting to CIF. Finally, we've won, and we got our patches. It really means a lot to all of us." In a game that featured nine ties, multiple lead changes, and where potential match-altering shots were ricocheting off the cage on both ends of the pool, Schmachtenberger's game winner was equal parts skill and luck. With the clock winding down, the score tied at 10 and the AHS fans imploring the Chargers to shoot the ball, Schmachtenberger put up a shot that hit the top bar and barely squeaked inside the cage before Laguna Beach goalkeeper Celia Huling could clear it out. It was so close even the referees took a second before counting the score. "To be honest, I did not think it went in," said Schmachtenberger, who finished with a team-high four goals. "I don't know; I was like, 'I've got to do this. I've got to jack it up- shoot it.' I shot it and it went down off the bar. I thought it went out." Laguna Beach quickly called timeout to set up one final shot. The Breakers put all their players in front of the Agoura goal and had Huling lob the ball into the center of the mass of bodies. LBHS sophomore Natasha Schulman had a quality look at the cage, but Gralitzer got a piece of the shot and deflected it out of harm's way. "I was thinking, 'Just block it. Just get to it. Just don't let it in,'" Gralitzer said. "I had to do whatever it took to get to it . . . "It's amazing. All the hard work we put in finally paid off. We finally achieved our goal." AHS junior utility Casey Flacks had three goals, while Clark and senior driver Jillian Waldron both scored twice. For Agoura head coach Jason Rosenthal, who led the Chargers to their only other CIF-SS title in 2001, the victory was as sweet as they come. Following last season's loss to Santa Barbara in the Division IV championship, Rosenthal seriously considered stepping down from his coaching post. But after several of the current team members approached him and asked him to return to the bench, he decided to stick with it. "Last year there were a lot of things going on," said Rosenthal, who also serves as the school's athletic director. "I had a family tragedy the day before the championship game, and I put a lot of the blame on myself for losing because I wasn't mentally there. "About a month after that, the girls came and talked to me and talked me back into coaching. After that they did everything I asked them to do. They worked hard, got along and played as a team. This is probably the best team that I've had in all my years of coaching." The Chargers will now compete in the CIF Masters Meet beginning this weekend in Irvine. |
for larger version       Ads have a Patent Pending. Click Here for More Information |
||||||
)
)