Edison girls’ soccer clinches second in Sunset League after beating rival Fountain Valley

Scoring goals did not exactly come easily this season for the Edison High girls’ soccer team in the Sunset League.

Coming into Tuesday’s league finale at rival Fountain Valley, the Chargers had just eight goals in nine league contests.

Edison hopes that the offensive explosion against the Barons bodes well for the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs.

The Chargers matched a season-high with four goals as they earned a 4-1 victory, one which clinched second place in league.

Senior Michael Guptill scored twice for Edison (10-6-6, 5-3-2 in league), and juniors Rachelle Elve and Chloe Helenini scored one goal each. Edison ultimately was unable to win back-to-back league titles as Los Alamitos claimed the crown this year, but the Chargers are pleased with their progression after graduating a senior class that included last year’s leading scorer, Chloe’s older sister Cassidy Helenini.

“We had to figure it out as a team together,” said Guptill, who scored assisted by fellow senior captain Kayla Herbert in the 47th minute and added an unassisted corner kick goal in the 57th minute. “I think we’ve done really well together, figuring it out in one season how we could rebuild a whole team and get second place. … I think we’re finally clicking up front. I’m glad we’re peaking going into CIF.”

Edison, which awaits the release of the Division 1 playoff brackets on Monday, came into the final league game tied for second in league with Huntington Beach. But the Oilers lost to Los Alamitos 3-1 on Tuesday night.

Elve and Cecelia Roghair also had assists for the Chargers, who were stout defensively with their back line of center back Serena Starks, Abby McCollam, Kelli McKay and Amanda Chadwick. Senior goalkeeper Amy Kirk made four saves before she exited midway through the second half. Junior keeper Jessica Oates made one save the rest of the way.

Coach Scott Goldman said that he’s optimistic that Fountain Valley (12-9-2, 2-7-1) will earn an at-large berth into the Division 2 playoffs. The Barons’ best chance to score in the first half against Edison came late on a two-on-one opportunity by senior forwards Kylee Wilson and Marissa Lynch.

McKay and Starks sprinted back into the box just in time to deflect Lynch’s shot in the box. The Barons did get on the scoreboard in the 77th minute, when junior Samantha Valdez scored, but Goldman said it was tough to lose talented junior forward Makenna Hunter to a back injury midway through league play.

“We had our opportunities to score in the first half,” Goldman said. “We just didn’t convert. We’ve got good build up. It’s a ‘when it rains, it pours.’ type of thing, but we can turn that real easily.”

The Chargers hope to turn it on for an extended run in the Division 1 playoffs, especially after losing in the first round last year to Tesoro.

“I think since we were first [in league] last year, we were like, ‘OK, we’re the best right now,’ ” Elve said. “We kind of went in [to the playoffs] with that over our heads. But now we know what to expect.”

matthew.szabo@latimes.com

Twitter: @mjszabo