Temecula Valley secures first ever Division 1 girls’ soccer title —
The high school winter sports season is in the books, well kind of. Yes, there are still a few local programs from boys’ and girls’ soccer, and boys’ and girls’ basketball, which will be competing at the CIF State tournament level this week. But, as for that elusive CIF Southern Section title, only one local team made that push, and won. The Temecula Valley girls’ soccer program has once again made history, claiming a Division 1 title for the first time ever.
The Lady Golden Bears avenged their only loss of the season, which came from the same Santiago squad back in December in a 2-1 loss. This time around, and with a CIF Southern Section title on the line, Temecula Valley kept Santiago midfielder Krystal Medina at bay. Medina scored both goals in that one and only loss.
The midfield duo of Peyton Bundy and Camryn Vehlow did an excellent job causing chaos in the middle during the final game for Temecula Valley, which prevented Medina from getting the best of them. Senior Natalie Mitchell took it from there on offense, and junior keeper Ellie Ludwig recorded yet another shutout on defense for the Lady Golden Bears.
“As a staff, we are so very proud of our entire team,” head coach Jennifer Guinn said. “The goal this year was to make history for our school, and they did that. They rose to the occasion and handled everything like a family.”
Mitchell scored a pair of goals in the first half, which would be all Temecula Valley needed as they defeated Santiago 2-0 in the CIF Southern Section’s Division 1 championship match. This is something Guinn and her seniors have been talking about for the past four years.
“So very proud of the leadership from my three captains Kate Jacobsen, Peyton Bundy and Natalie Mitchell,” Guinn said. “They helped set the bar, and the rest of the team followed suit. Santiago always challenges us. It could have gone either way. Mike runs a great program.”
The win marks the third section championship in the program’s history but the first in the section’s highest division. Temecula Valley will now move on to the CIF State Regional tournament where they received a first-round bye.
“Our girls are driven and as a coach I believe that the COVID experience and how close we came last year drove these returners toward this moment,” Guinn added. “One of the quotes I gave them all season was that ‘We did not come this far to only come this far.’”
The Lady Golden Bears will be home in round two where they will face the winner of the first-round match-up between Los Alamitos and Cleveland. That game will have taken place before this story going to print.
The Hemet girls’ soccer team also reached the CIF Southern Section finals in Division 5. The Lady Bulldogs had to go up against Marshall, which was going to be the ultimate test as both teams had not given up a single goal during the playoffs. The result played out as expected, with both teams playing to a 3-3 draw at the end of regulation at Pasadena City College.
The game would come down to the fourth minute of sudden-death overtime when senior Brianna Marquez scored the game, giving Marshall the title and second championship in school history. Both teams advanced to this week’s CIF State Southern California regional playoffs. Hemet will face Sierra Canyon in round one of the Division 4 brackets. Regional Championships for all teams that go the distance will take place Saturday, March 5, at 5 p.m. at host schools.
On the boys’ soccer fields, Citrus Hill out of Perris and Santa Rosa Academy out of Menifee were the only two local teams left representing the area through the semifinals, but both teams fell in the final four of their respective brackets and did not advance to the State tournament.
CIF-SS BOYS/GIRLS BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS
All local boys’ teams were taken out during the CIF Southern Section playoffs, except Rancho Verde, who fall just outside the Valley News coverage area. The Mustangs did advance to the title game of the D3AA playoffs, where they fell to Rancho Cucamonga by one point, 67-66. Rancho Verde did also advance to the CIF State tournament this week, where they will face off in the Division 3 brackets against Grant High School in the opening round.
For the girls’ teams, Heritage was on a collision course with a title game, but they could not power their way through last week’s Division 4AA semifinal matchup against Lawndale. Despite the loss, they advanced to CIF State brackets, along with Fallbrook and Cal Lutheran. Vista Murrieta and San Jacinto Valley Academy were the only other local teams to make it to the quarterfinals, but both teams fell in their respective divisions.
Fallbrook will travel to take on Shadow Hills in the Division 3 brackets, Heritage will be at Imperial in the Division 4 brackets and Cal Lutheran is at Maywood CES in the opening round of the Division 5 brackets.
JP Raineri can be reached by email at sports@reedermedia.com.
