Esperanza, Canyon battle to scoreless tie

ANAHEIM – In a tight defensive battle between teams with Century League title aspirations, neither No. 10 Esperanza nor Canyon could produce the one big goal needed to break a scoreless streak and produce a victory, as the teams finished with a scoreless tie Friday at Esperanza High.

Esperanza (7-5-4, 1-1-2) and Canyon (5-5-4, 1-0-1) have gone three consecutive matches without scoring a goal.

"We did a good job of moving up the field, but our biggest problem right now is finishing," Comanches coach Walter Camargo said.

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Esperanza was unable to capitalize on a 6-1 shot advantage in the first half. Comanches sophomore goalie Mia Hummel keyed the defensive effort for Canyon, making four of her seven saves in the half.

Junior Lauren Guerra nearly put the Aztecs on the board in the 52nd minute, as she got to a corner kick and hit a low line drive toward the near post corner. But a perfectly timed dive by Hummel allowed her to slap the ball away from the goal.

Both teams were able to move into the attacking third and produced four shots on goal in the second half, but key defensive plays sent the match into OT.

Esperanza had a chance in the final 30 seconds of the second overtime period, but a free kick just outside of the box by junior Catherine Newberry sailed over the crossbar.

In the Century League:

No. 8 Villa Park 5, El Dorado 1: Lauren Richards and Cassidy Hodson each scored two goals to help the Spartans (10-4-4, 3-0) defeat the host Golden Hawks (6-8, 1-3).

Brea Olinda 3, El Modena 1: Kaitlin Gishwiller scored two goals to lead the visiting Wildcats (8-3-6, 2-0) past the Vanguards (6-8-1, 0-3).

In the Empire League:

Valencia 4, Tustin 0: The visiting Tigers (8-3-1, 2-0) received goals from Angelica Flores, Kiersten Gamba, Pooja Somaiah and Pratt Somaiah in a victory over the Tillers (2-4-1).

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Contact the writer: jeichelberger@ocregister.com