The cheers kept coming long after the final whistle sounded. Steele Canyon High School’s boys soccer players simply wouldn’t stop celebrating.
They had good reason: They had just won the school’s first San Diego Section championship in the gender sport.
“Cougars!” excited teenage voices broke through the descending cold last Thursday, Feb. 24, at Patrick Henry High School as players took turns hoisting the championship trophy following the team’s 3-0 victory over the top-seeded Hilltop Lancers in the Division III championship game.
The school’s nickname was repeated several times, followed intermittently by “C-I-F! C-I-F!”
Together the two words spelled “champions.”
While Steele Canyon head coach Justin Johnson was obviously elated about this team’s history-making performance, he also wanted to acknowledge the fine season turned in by his championship opponent. Hilltop carried an 18-1-7 record into this year’s division final with 18 shutouts.
“First and foremost, we have to applaud Hilltop,” Johnson said. “They were the No. 1 seed. They had one loss all season. But things went our way in this game. It was a hard-fought game by our guys. They earned it. I’m so proud of them.”
The teams had met once before this season — a 3-0 Hilltop victory in the annual Grossmont Conference Holiday Cup on Dec. 18.
The Lancers won a high energy 2-1 overtime semifinal game against the neighborhood rival Chula Vista Spartans two days earlier, and Hilltop’s players appeared emotionally drained when taking the pitch against the third-seeded Cougars.
Steele Canyon was coming off a 2-0 upset win in the semifinals over second-seeded Santana. Motivation was strong as the Cougars had unfinished business to attend to after coming up short by a 1-0 score in last year’s Division IV championship game.
“We were excited to be here,” Johnson said. “It’s the first back-to-back appearance in the finals for us. A lot of things have to go right to get to the championship game.”
Now the Cougars are hoping for a championship repeat.
“It’s been a good season,” Johnson underscored. “The team really grew. We have 25 guys on the roster, and everyone has contributed. It’s been one of the most together teams I’ve coached.”
The boys of Steele finished 8-2 in Grossmont Valley League play behind Santana (10-0 in league). The Cougars had lost both league encounters to the Sultans (15-3-4 overall) but rose to the occasion when it counted most by dealing Santana a 2-0 defeat in the semifinals.
Goalkeeper Alex Shields scored on a penalty kick in the first half and top scorer Austin Moore added a goal from the field in the second half. The shutout was the 10th of the season for Shields, who also takes PKs for the team in scoring situations.
The Cougars (17-4) had more touches on the ball in the first half of play against Hilltop, though the Lancers seemed to have the better scoring opportunities.
Shields made two clutch saves to deny Hilltop during a fierce goalmouth scramble and successfully guarded the net on a screaming shot just wide by Lancer senior Isaac Rocha.
Steele Canyon took a 1-0 lead in the 37th minute on a deflected shot by midfielder Victor Carlos. Landon McDowell had taken a long throw-in that midfielder Kyle Medina had gotten a head on, but the ball was subsequently cleared out by the Lancer defense.
However, the ball wasn’t cleared far enough out of danger. Carlos retrieved the ball and fired a volley that changed direction on Hilltop goalkeeper Pablo Torrez.
“I tried to put in on the right side, but it deflected,” Carlos said.
