Girls’ Soccer
Title on the Line as South Pas Faces La Cañada, Temple City

By Patrick McGrail
South Pasadena High’s girls’ soccer team picked up a tie and a win this week, propelling them toward an intense finish to the Rio Hondo League season.
Going into the final week of the league campaign, the Tigers are in first place.
South Pas played La Cañada in a crucial contest on Tuesday after press time and take on Temple City Thursday.
The tie was a 3-3 road contest against San Marino on February 1. The Tigers came back from a 2-0 deficit to ensure that the season would not slip away from them. The team was back in action two days later, taking a 6-0 shutout against Blair at home on February 3.
It was the 13th time this season that South Pas has held its opponent scoreless.
The outcome has major implications in the race for the league title. South Pas is now 5-0-3 in Rio Hondo League play, with just home games against La Cañada (yesterday, after

press time), and Temple City (tomorrow) left in the regular season. Though the Tigers have already beaten Temple City this year, their first meeting with La Cañada ended in a scoreless tie.
On the same day as the Blair contest, San Marino and La Cañada met in their own game. As they are only two teams that were likely to give South Pas a challenge for this year’s title, the game was eagerly watched. The final result was a 1-1 tie, effectively neutralizing both teams’ chances to challenge for the number one ranking.
“It was the best thing that could have happened,” stated Head Coach Randy Lilavois. Looking forward, he explained that “I really want to beat La Cañada.”
While final results have yet to determine the league champion, the other teams in the league are facing a challenging uphill battle.
 The Tigers have gone a long way to prove their mettle this season. The three goals in the February 1 game against San Marino were the second, third, and fourth times that a league opponent has scored on South Pas. The only other was a surprise goal from underdog Monrovia that caught the Tigers off guard.
South Pas has only allowed eleven goals all year, but scored 62. They have only lost twice this season, and have not been beaten since their fourth game on December 9. They have never lost by more than one goal.
After the league champion is determined this week, the top teams in the league rankings will advance to CIF postseason play. They will compete in a single-elimination bracket at that point.
The Tigers made it to the quarterfinals a year ago.