Griffins Come Up Short Against Top-Ranked Aztecs

Los Alamitos High had a chance to knock off the top-ranked team in the CIF-Southern Section Division 1 rankings on Saturday in their final match of pool play at the Mater Dei Premier Invitational and possibly still grab a spot in the tournament semifinals.

But facing their former league rivals, Anaheim Esperanza, the Griffins wound up on the short end of a defensive battle, 1-0.

The loss dropped the Griffins to 1-2 in the tournament, having lost to Palos Verdes in their opener before bouncing back to defeat CIF-SS No. 5 Aliso Niguel 1-0 on Friday night.

The tournament is loaded with top ranked teams, including the Griffins, ranked No. 4 in CIF-SS Division 1 and Palos Verdes, ranked No. 2 in Division 2.

The game marked the end of a roller-coaster week for the Griffins, who defeated CIF-SS Division 1 No. 2 Santa Margarita on Wednesday before falling to Aliso Niguel in the Mater Dei Tournament opener. Aliso Niguel wound up as the pool champion with a 2-0 win over Palos Verdes and moved into the semifinals on Saturday night.

"We did OK, you know, we played well against the top teams," Coach Steve Soler said

Soler said his team seemed a little flat against Esperanza and wondered how much the tough week had taken out of his team, emotionally. The Griffins will get most of next week off before Christmas and then get back into action in another grueling event, the Excalibur Tournament at Santa Ana Foothill starting Dec. 28.

Soler said they will go light on training next week to let the team get its legs back under them and then try to come out strong in the Excalibur Tournament. It will be the final tune-up before the Griffins start Sunset League play in early January.

The Griffins (4-3-3) and Esperanza played to a 0-0 tie at halftime, but the Aztecs were able to get the go-ahead goal early in the second half. Nosa Ogiamien scored for the Aztecs, who improved to 6-1-2. The Griffins had chances to get back in the game, pressuring the Aztecs on several occasions in the second half, but couldn't come up with a tying goal.

Adriana Gjonovich had a scoring chance when she picked up a loose ball outside the box and beat a defender to the inside. She dribbled to an open spot at the top of the box and got off a solid shot that missed just wide left.

Forward Callie Taylor had two good chances on free kicks from outside the box. One from about 25 yards out hit the crossbar and skipped over the goal.

Another shot got to the goalie, but she made the save on a short hop. Later defender Ale Amador got off a solid shot through traffic, but it sailed just high.

"We'll probably rest up a little next week … we'll be back," Soler said.