Santa Clarita – The sixth-seed Cypress Chargers (15-3-4) advanced to the third round of SoCal Regionals after upsetting third-seed Canyons (16-3-2) on the road Tuesday night as the game was decided by penalty kicks.
After a scoreless first half, the Chargers struck first as Kendra Serrano scored unassisted in the 49th minute of play. Canyons answered 10 minutes later after a goal by Brooklynn Stevens tied the game at one all. The score stayed 1-1 as the two teams headed to overtime.
Canyons broke the tie in the 103rd minute of action after a goal by Marissa Kneisel, but Cypress answered minutes later as Serrano scored her second goal of the game to tie the game at two.
In the second overtime, Serrano picked up the hat trick, scoring her third goal and giving Cypress a 3-2 lead with eight minutes to play. Canyons again had an answer, as Kneisel scored her second goal of the game to tie the action at three all (115') as the game would then be decided by penalty kicks.
Cypress' Angela Umeres was up first and converted her penalty kick. Canyons' Stevens was next and she also converted. Serrano was up next for the Chargers, but missed her kick, which was followed by a Canyons miss by Jennifer Mendez. Up next for Cypress was Elizabeth Sanchez who put the ball in the net for a 2-1 lead. Kelsey Sherry of Canyons missed her attempt, which brought up Cypress' Elizabeth Gutierrez who made hers to give the Chargers a 3-1 lead. Canyons' Taylor Sclimenti needed to make her shot to continue the penalty kicks, but she missed and Cypress became the victor.
The Chargers will next play either two-seed Cerritos or seven-seed Santa Monica. That game will be played on Wednesday, Nov. 26 at 2:00 pm. Should Santa Monica win, then Cypress will host the third round match on Saturday, Nov. 29 at 2:00 pm. If Cerritos wins, Cypress will play on the road Saturday.
