Temecula Valley claims first-ever CIF State SoCal Regional Division 1 soccer title —
TEMECULA — With the phrase “we didn’t come this far, just to come this far” echoing in the back of their minds, the senior girls’ soccer players from Temecula Valley High School wanted their date with destiny to end the way any fairy tale should. Happily, ever after. Standing in their way, San Marcos High School, which won the San Diego Section’s Open Division girls’ soccer championship.
Temecula Valley head coach, Jennifer Guinn, has been repeating the aforementioned phrase to her girls all postseason, and it stuck, with each and every win.
Their final showdown, which took place at the home of the Lady Golden Bears Saturday, March 5, couldn’t have gone down between two better teams, the Division 1 CIF Southern Section Champions, Temecula Valley (24-1-1) versus the Lady Knights (18-6-3).
Temecula Valley, who were garnishing a 20-game win streak going into the game, struck early when Camryn Vehlow scored off a goal kick from a Natalie Mitchell corner kick. As with any enchanted tale, there has to be some drama, which came when a San Marcos defender tried to clear an Annika Jost (Temecula Valley) cross kick. Her kick went into the penalty area, where the hope was that one of her Golden Bear teammates would score, but the Lady Knights defender wound up deflecting the ball into the opposing net.
From there, Temecula Valley capitalized as Mitchell and Vehlow would connect late in the game for their final score, which came minutes after a Kate Jacobsen header went into the back of the net. With the score at 4-0, Temecula Valley would give up their only goal of the game when San Marcos scored in the 79th minute on a penalty kick by Ava Paolini. It was just the third goal allowed during their entire post season run.
“Collectively, as a group, we accomplished everything we went after,” Guinn said.
For Guinn, her staff, her seniors, and above all, her program, the moment was something that they put in the universe years ago.
“I’m so proud of my entire team, including the coaching staff,” says Guinn.
This is the second time in the past five years that the program has captured a regional title. The last time Guinn’s program had this amount of success was 2018, when her current seniors were only in the eighth grade. Then, it was for a CIF SoCal Division 2 State title after winning a CIF Southern Section Division 2 title as well, which makes this year’s accomplishment, both titles coming in Division 1, that much sweeter.
“Goals were set, and they pushed through,” added Guinn. “Our senior class was persistent, they led with passion, compassion, and true leadership. They were legacy setters and accomplished the highest achievement possible in high school soccer. It does not get any better than that. I want to send a huge thank you out to our school and all the fans. From traveling, to online, to packing the house they truly were part of our family.”
Temecula Valley ended the season with a 21-game win streak and were the top team in Southern California, if not the entire state. Oak Ridge of El Dorado won the NorCal CIF Division 1 State title, so there will have to be two top teams in California, as it stands. Hey CIF State office, perhaps an underground game to determine the overall State champs? Maybe some other time, in a land not so far, far away.
JP Raineri can be reached by email at sports@reedermedia.com.
