FULLERTON — Many times during the 25-year tenure of Coach Jeff Gordon, the Sunny Hills girls soccer teams had been the favorites going against scrappy underdogs in the postseason.
But the Lancers’ young squad was on the other side of matchup this time. They lost to top-seeded Oaks Christian of Westlake Village, 2-0, in the second round of the CIF-SS Division 2 playoffs Tuesday at Sunny Hills High.
Oaks Christian (17-1-0) advances to the quarterfinals and will host Northwood on Thursday.
“They were the anticipators and we were the reactors,” Gordon said of the way the contest played out.
For the majority of the first half, Oaks Christian controlled the ball and pushed on Sunny Hills’ back line.
The Lancers (11-8-6) had a threatening stretch around 13 minutes into the contest, but they couldn’t break through. Sunny Hills earned two corners and had a hard strike by Carlie Delatorre turned away by a leaping Claire Williams.
Oaks Christian scored on a breakout in the 21st minute. The Lions sent on a long cross, and Erin Philen was there for the far-post tap-in and the 1-0 lead.
“That was world class,” Gordon said of the goal.
Oaks Christian extended the lead on a set piece in the 29th minute. Sunny Hills congested the box on a long Lions throw-in, but Samantha Bruder found the ball, pushed it through traffic and just over the goal line for the 2-0 lead.
“It was hard to knock it along,” Oaks Christian coach Sebastian Alvarado said of his team’s first game on grass this season. “The field was a little narrow, so we were able to use that to our advantage.”
Sunny Hills pushed back in the second half, but couldn’t finish on two dangerous far-post crosses of its own in the 49th and 51st minutes.
