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La Mirada High head coach Dave Christensen holds up the CIF-Southern Section Division 4 finalist plaque after his team lost to Sage Hill High 4-3 in penalty kicks last Saturday. In his postgame speech, he reminded the team that the season isn’t quite done as state playoffs are on the horizon. PHOTO BY LOREN KOPFF.
March 5, 2025
By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X
ORANGE-The way La Mirada High’s girls soccer team had advanced to the CIF-Southern Section Division 4 title game wasn’t the ideal situation for longtime head coach Dave Christensen. The Matadores had eliminated Beaumont High in penalty kicks 4-2 in the quarterfinals and Redlands East Valley High 5-4 in penalty kicks four days later.
So, when La Mirada and Sage Hill High were scoreless after 80 minutes of regulation, and 20 minutes of overtime, many in attendance had that, ‘here we go again’ feeling. But on a blustery morning last Saturday at Fred Kelly Stadium on the El Modena High campus, senior defender Kiersten Mahan’s attempt hit the upper right corner of the goalpost, giving the Lightning a 4-3 victory in the extra session.
“It’s a cruel game, the way they decide overtime and PK’s, it is tough,” said Christensen. “Being on this side of it…we won two PK’s; we got to the finals. It was a huge accomplishment [and] I’m so proud of these kids. They played with a lot of heart and pride and did a great job all year. Really, we were peaking at the right time, and it just fell short today.”
This was La Mirada’s sixth trip to the divisional finals since 2008, fifth for Christensen with the Matadores, winning three times, losing in 2017 and tying arch nemesis Mayfair High in 2008.
Giselle Barron opened the penalty kick format with a goal through the left side while senior midfielder Giselle De Anda was high on her attempt. The next three rounds would see goals by Keila Fukuda (right corner), Elliot Trout (right side) and Capri Hill (right side) while the third place representatives from the Gateway League stayed a goal behind with tallies from freshman defender Zoey Santago (right side), junior midfielder Zoe Chang (left side) and junior midfielder Mia Carrillo (left side). When senior goalkeeper Mia Cook stopped Jaden Rall’s shot in the fifth round, it opened the door for Mahan to tie things up.
Shots were at a premium for both teams in the first half as the first one didn’t come until the ninth minute off the foot of Fukuda, the Lightning’s leading scorer. Her free kick from 33 yards out in the 23rd minute was stopped by Cook. It wasn’t until the 30th minute when the Matadores took their first shot as De Anda’s attempt hit the crossbar. Five minutes later, her second shot would be saved by Finley Maynard.
“[Sage Hill] did a great job,” said Christensen. “Their back line was strong; they kept us from, and you have to give them a lot of credit. Unfortunately, today wasn’t our day offensively. Yeah, we struggled to score goals today. Defense has been our forte all year. We keep teams out of the goal; we don’t give up cheesy goals, and unfortunately, we didn’t get one like we typically get.”
La Mirada would be limited in opportunities in the second half as Santiago’s attempt in the 76th minute sailed to the left. Six minutes earlier, she had cleared a Sage Hill opportunity off a corner kick with a header in the middle of the penalty box. Sage Hill’s best chance to score the first goal of the game came in the 52nd minute as Lizzy Ball’s shot was saved by Cook at the right post.
The last major push from either team before the penalty kicks came in the 97th minute as a free kick from sophomore forward Mia Gutierrez 42 yards was punched away by Maynard. For the game, Sage Hill took 10 shots to La Mirada’s four and the lone corner kick by the Matadores came in in the 78th minute.
“You never enter a game thinking, ‘well, let’s go to penalties,” said Christensen. “Certainly, we had some confidence in penalties; we’ve won a couple of games, we’ve worked hard on our penalties. We were prepared for that today. Those kids have nothing to hang their heads about.”
Of the six appearances in the divisional finals, this was the first time the Matadores (14-8-3) entered the postseason with less than 10 victories and without a league championship. In fact, La Mirada visited Downey High on the last game of the regular season with a chance to win the Gateway League. Instead, a 1-0 loss to the Vikings sent the Matadores to third place. They hosted Eagle Rock High this past Tuesday in the first round of the Division IV CIF Southern California Regionals and posted a 1-0 victory. La Mirada will host Heritage High, a 5-0 winner over Banning High, on Mar. 6 in the semifinals.
“Every team is different; everyone has their personalities,” said Christensen. “I think the thing I appreciate about this team is they battled. They battled and when it was on the line, they came through. They did a great job.”
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