LEAGUE OWNS 75 PERCENT OF THIS CITY CHATSWORTH, G.H., ECR IN SEMIS.Byline: Erik Boal Special to the Daily News The Granada Hills High girls' soccer team is used to being overlooked. Whether it's as a member of the West Valley League or by City Section officials, the Highlanders have long played second fiddle second fiddle n. Informal 1. A secondary role. 2. One who plays a secondary role. second fiddle Noun Informal a person who has a secondary status Noun . They can expect more of the same today. Although Granada Hills (19-5-2) finished second in the City's toughest league, received the No. 3 seed in the 32-team City Section playoffs and are playing in their sixth consecutive semifinal, it too often serves as a footnote Text that appears at the bottom of a page that adds explanation. It is often used to give credit to the source of information. When accumulated and printed at the end of a document, they are called "endnotes." to the El Camino Real El Camino Real (Spanish for The Royal Road or The King's Highway) was the name of a series of pre-automobile highways linking the various New World colonies of Spain:
``I think we have the talent to beat anyone we play, it just comes down to our mentality,'' said Granada Hills coach Lynda Fritsche, whose team is seeking its first City final appearance since 2003. ``We've had so many injuries this year, and we have such a young team, so you never know what can happen.'' With a victory today over 10th-seeded Locke of Watts (19-5-1), Granada Hills would reach the City final for the second time in Fritsche's eight- year tenure. That accomplishment likely would be overshadowed by the third meeting between top-seeded ECR ECR Efficient Consumer Response ECR European Congress of Radiology ECR Electron Cyclotron Resonance ECR El Camino Real (Kings Highway; California) ECR Electronic Cash Register ECR East Coast Radio (South Africa) (20-1-2) and No. 4 Chatsworth (13-11-4), whose Jan. 26 league showdown was marred by a fight that led to red cards for the Chancellors' Jamie Noland and the Conquistadores' Erin Kelly. ``With every game we play (at this point of the season), it becomes more intense,'' said ECR junior midfielder Michelle Oakes, whose team is seeking its 26th successive playoff play·off also play-off n. Sports 1. A final game or series of games played to break a tie. 2. A series of games played to determine a championship. Noun 1. victory. ``We just need to get into that state of mind and push our game up another level.'' Although both semifinal games are being played at 3 p.m., Fritsche is less concerned with the Highlanders' potential opponent Saturday and more focused on slowing down Locke sophomore striker Mayra Garcia, the top scorer in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, with 53 goals. ``You have to respect them,'' said Fritsche, whose attack is led by Melissa Fernandez (15 goals) and Ashley Hill (14). ``They certainly have a talented scorer, and they like to play long ball, so we just need to settle down and play the way we've played all year. My girls know what El Camino and Chatsworth have, but they don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. much about Locke, so there might be a little fear of the unknown.'' Chatsworth, Granada Hills and ECR make up three-quarters of the final four for the fifth time in six years. Since the section switched from the 4-A/3-A format to City and Invitational in·vi·ta·tion·al adj. Restricted to invited participants: an invitational golf tournament. n. An event, especially a sports tournament, restricted to invited participants. Adj. 1. finals in 1999, three WVL WVL West-Vlaanderen WVL Wiedervorlage (German) WVL Wavelet Compressed Bitmap teams have reached the semifinals six times. There were two representatives in 2000 and last season. ECR or Chatsworth have won 15 of 17 City titles, but section officials remain reluctant to use league strength in determining seeding for the playoffs. As a result, Granada Hills and Chatsworth - a 10-time City champion - were forced to meet in last year's quarterfinals. Through all the regular-season tension, lack of respect is something all WVL coaches can agree on. ``They keep talking about how they don't want to take into consideration strength of league, but it's something we might have to go back and reevaluate,'' said Sylmar coach Jose Navarro, whose team - the Valley Mission League runner-up - lost 11-0 to ECR in Friday's quarterfinals. Several coaches from City-based leagues attempted to omit o·mit tr.v. o·mit·ted, o·mit·ting, o·mits 1. To fail to include or mention; leave out: omit a word. 2. a. To pass over; neglect. b. Cleveland of Reseda - the WVL's fifth-place entry - from the tournament. The Cavaliers, last year's Invitational champion, was seeded 18th and knocked off No. 2 San Pedro in the second round. ``I was dreading the drive down to San Pedro, but Cleveland took care of that for us,'' said Fritsche, who also lobbied to get Birmingham - the league's sixth-place team - into the tournament. The Patriots were one of the last three teams left out. ``There have been times where I have supported a team like Cleveland not being in there,'' Fritsche said. ``But if I think they do deserve to be in there, I will fight for them. It's about have some integrity and doing what's right for the sport.'' Maybe another all-WVL final would help heighten height·en v. height·ened, height·en·ing, height·ens v.tr. 1. To raise or increase the quantity or degree of; intensify. 2. To make high or higher; raise. v.intr. awareness. Erik Boal, (818) 713-3607 erik.boal(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): box Box: TODAY'S GAMES |
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