Vikings' Girls Soccer Fit to Be Tied

For almost a decade, the Santa Monica High School girls soccer team has ruled the Ocean League, but the Vikings' reign came to an end Friday night in Beverly Hills.

Normans junior Ashley Aviram rocketed a direct free kick over the head of Samo goalkeeper Sarah Lipshy from 35 yards out early in the 93rd minute to give the host school the 1-1 tie it needed to knock the Vikings out of contention for first place with only two games remaining. Even more costly than Friday's tie was a 1-0 loss to Culver City earlier in the week that meant Samo had to beat Beverly Hills and hope Culver City could upset Beverly Hills in the league finale to create a three-way tie atop the standings.   

"Tonight's game was very similar to the last one," Santa Monica Coach Jimmy Chapman said, referring to the Vikings' 2-1 overtime loss to Beverly Hills in the first round of league play. "We played beautiful soccer between the 18s but we couldn't finish our chances."

Santa Monica broke the scoreless tie in the 83rd minute with a redirection by striker Brenda Torres-Matos off a high corner kick from Kristen Vasquez, a senior midfielder headed for the University of San Francisco. In the regular season, overtime is not sudden death, but rather consists of two 10-minute periods, so the Normans had 17 more minutes to net the equalizer--and they did.

Beverly Hills' senior goalkeeper Ida Trevino entered the game having allowed just one goal in league play and rose to the challenge once again Friday, making 17 saves while constantly communicating with her defenders. By the time the final whistle blew she had almost no voice left to cheer.

"My heart was pounding the whole game. I was yelling the whole time," said Beverly Hills goalkeeper Ida Trevino, who made 17 saves. "We knew the situation going into it, how important it was not to lose. I'm overall really calm but when we got behind I knew we needed to score. I was trying to stay really positive."  

Lipshy had 11 saves for the Vikings, who were after their 10th straight league title. Last season, Samo took first place in league when Culver City knocked off Beverly Hills in overtime in the final game of the season. Now, the Vikings will likely finish second if the Normans beat Culver City or third if the Centaurs beat Beverly Hills.

"We needed to win, but I still feel good about this tie," Chapman said. "This will give us momentum going forward and you have to credit Beverly Hills. They've been the best team this year."

Samohi wraps up the regular season at home Tuesday against Morningside and holds its annual Senior Day against Hawthorne on Thursday.

MATCH STATISTICS 

Goals: Santa Monica—Brenda Torres-Matos, 83rd minute. Beverly Hills—Ashley Aviram, 93rd minute.

Saves: Santa Monica—11, Sarah Lipshy. Beverly Hills—12, Ida Trevino.

Records: Santa Monica 10-5-3 overall, 5-2-1 league; Beverly Hills 12-5-3, 7-0-1.