In a rematch of two South Bay Conference rivals, second-seeded American Martyrs (Manhattan Beach) held off top-seeded St. Lawrence Martyr (Redondo Beach) 2-1 to win the 2014 CYO Girls Soccer Championship April 16 at Parras Middle School in Redondo Beach.
The teams played to a 1-1 tie during the regular season to share the conference title, and as expected the championship match — well attended by supporters of both teams — was hard fought throughout with intense play.
American Martyrs scored first and, after both teams had several chances to score but were denied by great goalkeeping, tallied again before the end of the first half to go up 2-0.
The second half was played with very high intensity with both teams again having great scoring chances. Midway through, St. Lawrence Martyr scored on a long shot to get within one. American Martyrs continued to protect their lead and nearly scored near the end of the game (the shot hit the cross bar), before finally prevailing.
"An amazing game by both teams," declared James McGoldrick, CYO director.
The well-contested third place game pitted St. James (Torrance) against Visitation (Westchester), with St. James finishing on top 2-1.
“Having four teams from the same region reach the Final Four was truly amazing — a testament to the quality of play in that region of CYO," said McGoldrick. "And hosting the event in that area made for a great day of families and friends to gather and cheer on their teams.”
As reported May 30, top-seeded St. Turibius (Los Angeles) defeated St. Lawrence Martyr 3-1 on May 18 at Crespi High School in Encino. to win the CYO Boys Soccer title for the third straight year. In the third place game, American Martyrs defeated St. Raymond (Downey), 4-1.
