The Carpinteria girls soccer team traveled to play Katella in the first round of the CIF Division 5 playoffs. The game was scoreless for the first 82 minutes, but the home team scored a goal in added time to win 1-0 and knock out the Warriors.
Carpinteria finished with an 11-5-4 overall record and a 6-1-3 Frontier League record which landed the team in second place. The Warriors received an unlucky draw and were matched up with Katella, the Orange League champion.
The Carpinteria defense played up to its usual standards. The team’s back line allowed less than a goal a game on average this season, and very nearly held its opponent scoreless in this game.
In addition to excellent defense, the Warrior were able to generate quality opportunities on offense.
“We were definitently in it and we had chacnes in front of the goal,” head coach Lucy Carleton said. “We were just so close.”
While a first-round playoff exit always leaves a bitter taste in an athlete’s mouth, the young team has plenty to look forward to next year.
“We dominated a lot of games and we’re young. It’s a negative and a positive,” Carleton said. “Maybe if we were a little more experience — a little more seasoned — we would have closed out some of those games. On the other, hand I’m going to have those girls for a while.”
