Riverside Poly girls soccer group comes short against Portola in Division 4 playoff match

RIVERSIDE-- Riverside Poly's women soccer team was a step slow on Friday night, and it kept the Bears from taking a leap forward this season.

3 top-shelf goals in the 2nd half from Portola ended Poly's season with a 3-1 loss in the 2nd round of the CIF Southern Section Division 3 playoffs.

" We needed to shut down their shooters and it appeared like, tonight, from the extremely beginning we were on the back foot," Poly coach Josh Nash said. "In all aspects of our game we were a 2nd off, a step slow."

Angelina Stedman scored in the last 5 minutes, however it wasn't enough as Poly (17-6-5) lost in the house for the very first time this season.

" We constantly close people down. That's been our video game all season," Nash said. "We've been excellent at that and tonight we didn't do that."

The Bears, back-to-back Ivy League champions, gotten approved for the playoffs last season however lost in the preliminary. This season, a first-round triumph over Oak Hills on Tuesday marked the very first postseason win for Nash with the program.

"We worked actually, truly tough in our last game versus Oak Hills, and tonight it boils down to putting away an early possibility in the game that possibly alters momentum," Nash stated.

Poly applied its physicality in the first half against Portola but there was little to reveal for it, with Addison Zyber spinning a defender and unleashing her only shot on goal of the match, a low liner captured by goalkeeper Hannah Karabian.

Portola's Xasive Espinosa struck the back post with a shot as the Bulldogs got near scoring near halftime, however a goalkeeper switch by Poly in the 2nd half opened a chance.

"We didn't handle the early pressure well and it took us a while to get into the rhythm of the video game," Stringer stated.

Portola (15-2-2) opened the second half by taking shots however it was a turnover by Poly near the top of the penalty area that became the very first goal as Emma Song fired over the outstretched arms of goalkeeper Frida Glass the lead.

Less than 4 minutes later, another Poly turnover caused another attempt on objective as Lorel Stringer put her laces through a ball that dipped under the cross bar for a 2-0 benefit.

"Two shots from outside, practically 25 or 28 lawns out, and they were simply moments when you can see the gamer win the ball and offer it their finest shot to get the ball on target with power," Stringer said.

Poly pressured its method to an objective in the 76th minute, with Stedman scoring previous Karabian to make it 2-1, however Portola's Jenna Verplancke included an insurance coverage objective less than two minutes later to send the Bulldogs on to the quarterfinals next week.