18 Tiger - Thursday, February 10, 2011
Sports
Boys soccer in position for playoffs
CIF chances slim for bball
Tigers fight for second place finish in conference
Team hopes to even record as season winds down By Josh Roquemore Staff Writer
Tai Carter
Senior midfielder McKay Hatch dribbles the ball while looking for an open teammate. By Christian Miyamae Assoc. Sports Editor As the season comes to a close, South Pasadena soccer has remained at a constant third place throughout the season with a 10-7-2 record. Leading the way for the boys has been senior captain Benjamin Charney – who leads the team in goals with eight- and junior Steven Blackwell. On Tuesday, February 8, the Tigers continued their late success with a 1-0 victory against Temple City. This game was the deciding factor for the Tigers to clinch a CIF spot. With both teams carrying high spirits throughout, it was in the second half that Charney came
through in the clutch to score the winning goal. “It was an awesome feeling. At first it was a frustrating game because [South Pasadena] had a lot of missed opportunities to score, and it was late in the game so it was a good feeling to finally score. A perfect feeling,” said Charney on his winning goal. On February 4, South Pas battled the first place La Cañada Spartans. Despite going into the game with high hopes, the Tigers
2/02 SPHS v. Blair 2-0 W
were off to a slow start as La Cañada quickly took the game with two early goals. That turned out to be the difference in the game. Scoring those goals were seniors Mathew Canatta and Cameron Meeker. The boys have already secured a CIF spot, but their final league game will be tonight against Monrovia. “We’ve worked harder this year and the team is more intense overall,” said senior captain Matt Nelson.
2/04 SPHS v. La Cañada 0-2 L
2/08 SPHS v. Temple City 1-0 W
Girls soccer falls short in league League championship out of reach; CIF next on agenda By Wyatt Bukowski Staff Writer On Tuesday the South Pasadena girls soccer team traveled to Temple City to take on the Rams in an important league game. The girls started fast with a goal from senior Stacy Lee in the first half. Later in the game, fellow senior Madeline Godwin contributed with a goal of her own to secure a 2-1 Tigers victory. The win gave the Tigers a second place ranking in league. With the win, the Tigers now own a league record of 6-1-2, and Temple City dropped to a record of 2-6-1 in league play. “I think we are really strong this year, we have some really good freshmen, and if we could just get a couple of goals we have a good chance at winning,” said senior Julia Dunn. Prior to the Temple City match, the Tigers squared off against the La Cañada Spartans last Friday in their biggest game of the season. Entering the match, South Pas held an impressive league record of 5-0-2, while the Spartans posted a record of 5-1-1. A win here would have put the Tigers in the driver’s seat for a league championship, but due to an early goal from a Spartan forward and the Tigers’ struggling offense, South Pas suffered their first league defeat with a final score of 0-2. “It was a tough loss, but I’m still proud of our team,” said senior captain Marian Slocum after the game. The Tigers now stand with a league record of 6-1-2, but the loss has taken them out of contention for a league title with La Cañada holding the tiebreaker over the two
teams. With one game remaining on their schedule, South Pas can only hope to secure second place and gain momentum as they enter the playoffs. “If we come together as a unit, especially us 12 seniors on the team, and we play hard every time we step on the field, we are a very good team,” said senior Tara Aalem when asked about the team’s chances of succeeding in CIF. The Tigers will play their final league game at home against the Monrovia Wildcats today. The Tigers must win today’s game in order to secure a second place finish in league and a sure CIF berth.
In South Pasadena’s last home game of the season, the Tigers managed a win against Temple City Rams on Tuesday, February 8. After trailing the Rams for the majority of the game, the Tigers made a comeback in the final quarter and won 58-56. “We fo ught hard and didn’t give up,” said junior captain JJ Shields, “and we came out with the win.” A catalyst for the Tigers’ win was junior Zach Lindecamp. Lindecamp made several three-pointers late in the game, which gave the boys the edge they needed to win. “ We p l ay e d h a r d a l l game; we knew we had to get a Katie Whitworth win for CIF.” said Lindecamp. Junior Alireza Jabalameli fights through the “I was hoping we could just Blair defense for a second-chance basket. hold on ‘till the end.” The Tigers suffered a tough loss today. The winner of the game will to the La Cañada Spartans on Friday, have a much greater chance of makFebruary 4. The final score was 32-69 ing the playoffs. South Pasadena was and the Spartans retained their unde- defeated by Monrovia in their previous feated league record. However, two match-up, and tensions are high as both days earlier, the Tigers handed Blair a teams hope to make their last league game a memorable one. 73-68 defeat. “I want to stress to the kids “We can beat these teams,” said junior captain James Kawakami, “we that [today] is a little bit of a revenge [just] need to play with passion; we game,” said Parry. “I think we can go to Monrovia and give them a little can’t lose our energy.” Head coach Skip Parry believes gift--the same type of gift they gave us the boys have shown vast improvement last time.” in playing extremely physical schools. “All year long we have had 02/04 2/02 02/08 trouble with very physical teams,” said SPHS SPHS SPHS v. Parry. “But we [have] weathered the v. La v. Blair Temple storm and made a comeback.” Cañada 73-68 W City The Tigers’ last game will be 32-69 L 58-56 W away against the Monrovia Wildcats
Right: Freshman Janel Ismail advances the ball upfield against La Cañada. Bottom: Senior Mallory Downing fights for the ball against a La Cañada opponent. The Tigers lost 0-2. 02/04 SPHS v. LC 0-2 L 02/08 SPHS v. TC 2-1 W Photos by Tai Carter