CITY SECTION GIRLS' SOCCER: ECR CRUISES TO SHUTOUT WIN.

Byline: Daily News

Despite a 4-0 blowout victory over visiting Cleveland of Reseda in the first round of the City Section City Bracket girls' soccer playoffs Tuesday, El Camino Real coach Scott Holloway admitted his Conquistadores ``could have played better.''

According to the second-year coach, the team played a sloppy first half and its three-goal outburst in the second half was partly because the team was aware that it needed to upgrade its quality of play.

``The girls were playing the ball high, hitting their teammates in the chest and on the head,'' said Holloway, whose Conquistadores reached the semifinals last year. ``Playing like that slows the game down. At halftime, the girls were saying that they needed to play better and when they came out (in the second half), they were making better passes to the feet.''

Top-seeded El Camino Real of Woodland Hills took a 1-0 lead in the 12th minute on a free kick by Kandice McLaughlin. The freshman's shot, from 25 yards out, curled over the Cleveland of Reseda's defensive barrier and entered through the top right corner for the score.

The Cleveland defense did not allow the Conquistadores near its goal for the rest of the half as it held them to seven shots on goal.

El Camino Real adjusted in the second half, attempting twice as many shots as it did in the first.

Samantha Spencer sparked the offense in the second half, scoring twice. Her first came midway through the second half when she capitalized on a cross from the top right of the box. On the second, the sophomore forward received a pass at midfield before racing the ball all the way to the penalty box where she capitalized on a shot with her right foot.

``After (the second goal) I was tired and I had to jog back,'' Spencer said. ``I just needed a second to catch my breath from running that much. (The win) is a good way for us to get started and hopefully we can keep on playing like this so we can go far.''

Maytal Schvartz added a goal in the 58th minute on a header off a McLaughlin free-kick.

- Julio Cortez

In other City Bracket games:

--Grant 7, Huntington Park 0: Fourth-seeded Grant High of Van Nuys (19-1-1) jumped out to a 4-0 halftime lead and never looked back as it cruised to victory at Grant.

The Lancers, the Sunset League champions, received a hat trick from Veronica Cortez and got two goals from Karla Soriano.

``We were quicker and more aggressive today,'' Lancers coach Marv Barsky said. ``We moved the ball real well through midfield. The girls really wanted to prove that they were worthy of the four seed and play with the likes of Chatsworth and El Camino Real.''

- Jack Pollon

--Chatsworth 4, Jefferson 0: Jenna Fodor scored two goals as the No. 2 seeded Chancellors beat the Democrats (7-2-3) at Chatsworth.

Leila Pate and Heather Collins added goals as defending City Section champion Chatsworth (12-6-1) took a 4-0 halftime lead.

--Kennedy 5, Palisades 0: Krystal Bernal scored three goals to lead the Cougars of Granada Hills (15-4-2) over the Dolphins at Kennedy.

In the Invitational Bracket:

--Verdugo Hills 3, Fremont 1: Natalie Campos scored two goals and Brenda Lazo added a score for the top-seeded Dons (11-4-3) in a win at Verdugo Hills.

--Canoga Park 2, Roosevelt 1: Evelyn Solorzano scored with 12 minutes remaining to give the Hunters (8-6-3) the victory at Canoga Park. Aileen Ramos also scored for Canoga Park.

--SOCES 2, Wilson 1: Katie Caparula and Johanna Lopez both scored for host SOCES (7-3).