Monrovia High Rallies to Defeat La Cañada in Penalties in CIF Semis

Monrovia High School celebrates after defeating La Cañada 4-2 in penalties. The Wildcats trailed 1-0 in the first half before rallying in the second half to force overtime and a penalty shootout.

Article and Photo by Vincent Nguyen

Ulises Avila coolly converted the game-winning penalty kick for Monrovia High, propelling the Wildcats to the CIF Southern Section Division Six Finals over the La Cañada Spartans, defeating the Spartans 4-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw Tuesday night.

The Wildcats trailed early in the game but overcame their deficit in the second half to force the Spartans into extra-time, and, ultimately, a penalty to shootout, where Avila scored the game-winner, and junior goalkeeper Taylor Barstow saved two spot-kicks to lift Monrovia High to the CIF final.

“I already knew where I wanted to go,” the junior striker said. “I already picked the corner, and the two saves really built up my confidence.”

La Cañada took control of the game early in the first half and quickly earned two free-kicks right outside their opponent’s penalty box.

The Spartans struck first in the 22nd minute with a stunning overhead kick from junior striker Lawrence Ku for a 1-0 lead.

The Wildcats quickly regrouped and took more control of the game with countless chances going their way, but La Cañada kept the lead going into halftime.

“We told them to stop watching and start playing and getting active,” said Monrovia head coach Michael Williams.

The second half proved to be a different story. The Spartans faced a different monster as the Wildcats became much more organized and offensive.

In the 57th minute, Monrovia High earned a free-kick just above half-field and launched it into the box, finding junior defender Joel Cortez to head in the equalizer.

Both teams fought off the counter with minutes left in regulation time, but neither could prevent the game from heading into extra time where fatigue looked to be the factor and penalty kicks seemed inevitable.

Monrovia and La Cañada went back and forth in the first two rounds of the shootout, but Barstow’s back-to-back saves gave the Wildcats the advantage and the victory.
“I tried to make myself look big by giving them the ball,” Barstow said on his penalty saves. “You can always tell by their eyes where they’re going to go.”

The Wildcats will advance to face the South Pasadena Tigers in the final, with the date and time projected to come out this week.

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