HB, OV repeat champs

The Huntington Beach High girls’ soccer team did a repeat turn by winning the Sunset League championship.

The Oilers won the league title for the second consecutive year by knocking off visiting Fountain Valley, 3-0, in one of three league finales played Feb. 11.

With the crown in hand, the Oilers are one of three local teams — Ocean View and Edison are the other two teams, to venture this week into the CIF Southern Section playoffs.

In Huntington’s title-clinching shutout of Fountain Valley (2-6-1 league), Sawyer KoeIsch, Darcy Weiser and Olivia Covert scored goals, Jenna Nighswonger had a pair of assists, Sarah Steinhaus had an assist, and Addie Petermann (five) and Rachel Harris (three) combined for eight saves.

The Oilers took the title with a league record of 7-1-2, and head into the playoffs at 13-4-5 overall. They host Etiwanda (13-7-4), an at-large entry from the Baseline League, in a 5 p.m. first-round Division 1 game Thursday. The winner advances to a second-round game next Tuesday and will take on the winner of the Thursday first-round game between Rosary and Long Beach Poly.

Golden West League champion Ocean View put the finishing touches on a 9-0-1 league campaign Feb. 11 by blanking host Loara, 2-0. Madison White and Kristina Cooley both scored and Emma Malsy had seven saves.

The Seahawks, who won the league for the second straight year, are 14-2-5 heading into postseason play.

“I’m proud of the girls,” said first-year Ocean View Coach Jose Sanchez of the title repeat. “We have a group of talented girls who also work hard for the team. Winning back to back titles is not easy, but we went into every game with a winning mentality. It shows in our system of play, even when we are ahead we kept attacking, possessing, and creating opportunities.”

Ocean View will host a Division 5 first-round game at 3 p.m. Thursday and take on Cathedral City (14-4-2, Desert Valley No. 3). The winner advances to a second-round game next Wednesday to face the winner of the Thursday first-round game between Montclair and San Dimas.

“CIF comes at a great time for us,” Sanchez said. “Every girl understands her role on the team. We have been improving as a team each game. Even girls who come from the bench have been able to make an impact on games. We have to continue with our “hard work, communication and transitioning. It has been our motto every huddle before games.”

Edison opens the Division 1 playoffs with a 5 p.m. first-round home game against Dana Hills (South Coast League No. 3). The winner advances to a second-round game next Tuesday to face the winner of Thursday’s first-round game between Esperanza and Tesoro.

The Chargers ended their Sunset League season Feb. 11 with a 2-1 overtime win over visiting Newport Harbor. Amy Feinstein’s goal off a chip from Cassidy Helenihi tied the score with 20 seconds remaining in the match, and the game went into overtime where Helenihi delivered the winning goal in the seventh minute.

Edison was second behind Huntington in the Sunset standings at 7-2-1. The Chargers head into the playoffs with an overall record of 15-5-2.

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Boys’ Soccer

Three local teams — Edison, Fountain Valley and Huntington Beach, are playoff-bound and will play first-round games Friday.

Edison will host La Canada St. Francis (6-9-5, Mission League No. 3) at 5 p.m. The Chargers, the No. 2 team from the Sunset League, closed out league play Feb. 10 and lost in overtime to visiting Fountain Valley, 3-1. Jeff Wood scored and Brendan Fix had five saves for the Chargers who were 7-2-1 in league play, second behind league champion Los Alamitos.

The St. Francis-Edison winner advances to a second-round game next Wednesday to face the winner of the Thursday first-round game between Rolling Hills Estate Peninsula and San Clemente.

Fountain Valley is the third-place team in the Sunset League and will play a Division 1 first-round match at 3 p.m. Friday at Mission Hills Alemany (10-9-3), the No. 2 team from the Mission League. The Barons are 14-6-3 overall.

The Barons completed a 6-3-1 league season Feb. 10 by winning 2-1 in overtime at Edison. Chico Cardenas and Ryan Sapp scored goals and Slater Kucera had four saves.

“It was a huge win for our program, Fountain Valley Coach Jason Smith said. “Going into the game our goal was to play better than our last two games so we can have confidence going into the playoffs. This game under the lights at Edison definitely had the feel of a playoff game. We played at the level we need to play at when we start CIF.”

The Fountain Valley-Alemany winner advances to a second-round game next Wednesday against top-seeded Paramount which has a first-round bye.

Huntington Beach also taking on a Mission League opponent Friday. The Oilers received an at-large bid to the Division 1 playoffs and will travel for a 3 p.m. game against Mission League champ Los Angeles Loyola (20-4). The winner advances to a second-round game Wednesday against the winner of a Friday first-round game between Corona and Ventura Buena.

In their Sunset League finale Feb. 10, the Oilers shut down host Los Alamitos, 3-0.

“Probably our best performance all year,” Coach Sean Dick said. “We have had trouble putting together complete games but we came to play that night.

“Getting the boys to believe in themselves and recognize their potential has been the goal, and it showed that they do believe and they are ready for CIF.”

Huntington went 5-5 in league play and is 11-7-5 overall.

Marina closed out its Sunset League and regular seasons Feb. 10 with a victory as the Vikings took care of visiting Newport Harbor, 5-1. Kai Noble and Geoffrey Delorie both scored twice and Ryan Hice scored once.

The Vikings finished 3-7 in league (fifth place) and were 6-14-3 overall.

“The boys finished strong despite knowing they had no chance at making the playoffs,” Marina Coach Gabriel Lucatero said. “I look forward to next year and hope we can continue to grow and pick up where we ended this season.”

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Girls’ Water Polo

Huntington Beach, the No. 3 team from the Sunset League, played a CIF-SS Division 1 wild-card game Tuesday at Santa Margarita (Trinity League No. 3) and fell to the Eagles, 13-10. Julia Rozolis-Hill scored three goals, Lauren Smith scored twice and Marina Hyham had nine saves for the Oilers.

Ocean View, champion of the Golden West League, is the No. 2-seed in the Division 6 tournament and starts postseason play at 5 p.m. Thursday against Placentia Valencia. The winner moves on to a quarterfinal game Saturday to face the winner of the Thursday first-round game between Culver City and Temecula Canyon. The division semifinals are next Wednesday.

The Seahawks (23-5) ended regular-season play Friday and dropped a 13-11 nonleague game to Villa Park, 13-11. Elena Isogawa scored six goals and Shannon Graham scored three goals for the Seahawks.

In Sunset League finales Feb. 10-11 at Newport Harbor High, Huntington defeated Fountain Valley, 18-3, Edison lost to Newport Harbor, 12-2, and Marina lost to Los Alamitos, 17-3.