The La Cañada High School varsity boys’ soccer team found itself in a familiar situation on Tuesday. For a second consecutive match, the No. 8-seeded Spartans were involved a penalty kick shootout, but the outcome didn’t favor them in the CIF-Southern Section Division 6 semifinals. La Cañada struggled to find the back of the net and fell to No. 4-seeded host Los Olivos Dunn, 4-1.
The teams were scoreless after 80 minutes of regulation, and neither squad was able to break through in 20 minutes of overtime. La Cañada was denied its first CIF-SS championship bid since 1996.
First-year head coach Bruno Costa guided the Spartans (13-5-6 overall record) to their first Rio Hondo League crown since 2013. Despite the semifinal loss, the team will be competing in the CIF State tournament next week. The pairings will be released this Sunday.
The Spartans opened the Division 6 playoffs with a 2-1 come-from-behind victory over La Salle. The team didn’t struggle as much in the second round with a 4-0 rout over host Claremont Webb.
LC continued its winning ways in the quarterfinals, upsetting visiting No. 1 seed Nogales of La Puente in a penalty kick shootout, 5-3, on Saturday. The teams were scoreless in regulation and overtime.
The first CIF State matches are scheduled for Tuesday, March 7.
La Cañada Denied Championship Bid by Dunn
