PREP SOCCER: CANYON GIRLS' SOCCER TEAM MAKES EARLY EXIT COWBOYS FAIL TO ADVANCE IN PLAYOFFS FOR 2ND YEAR.

Byline: ERIK BOAL

Special to the Daily News

It wasn't too long ago the Canyon girls' soccer team was leading the Foothill League and owned the honor of being the top-ranked team in Southern Section Div. II.

The Cowboys (18-3-4) likely would've longed to press the rewind button Friday after their untimely exit in the opening round of the playoffs.

After a 1-0 loss to Hart in the regular-season finale knocked Canyon from the top spot down to the fourth seed in the Div. II bracket, the Cowboys surrendered two goals in the first 20 minutes to suffer a 2-0 setback to South Hills of West Covina (19-3-3).

Before the postseason began, Canyon co-coach Eric White predicted his team was "better suited for the playoffs," with the Cowboys' only two regular-season losses coming against a familiar opponent in Hart.

But two Natalie Distano goals off long throw-ins from Tiffany Schneider were too much for Canyon to overcome, as the Cowboys failed to advance past the first round for the second year in a row.

Working overtime: Despite being the No. 2 seed in Div. II, Hart coach Louis Romero said "there are no freebies for anybody," when the draw was released Monday.

His words proved prophetic Friday when the Indians (23-3-1) twice rallied from deficits in regulation before outlasting visiting Moorpark 4-2 in double overtime.

It marked the second year in a row Hart eliminated the Musketeers (7-5-8) in the opening round, but the rematch proved to be a much stiffer test for the two-time Foothill League champions.

Aubrie Smith scored the go-ahead goal in the first overtime and Allison Carivau added an insurance goal in the second 10-minute extra period for Hart, which received two goals -- including the tying score with eight minutes remaining in regulation -- from Loyola Marymount-bound midfielder Dominique Penaranda.

"They deserved it," Moorpark coach Frank Paletta said. "They were the better team and they held themselves together the whole time.

"We had a couple goalkeeper errors that sunk our boat and we just ran out of gas in overtime. But Hart played great. I think it was a much better team than it was last year. They were much more together."

Hart advanced to Tuesday's second round at Irvine (10-11-1), with a number of things at stake for the Indians, who were the lone Foothill League team to survive the opening round.

A victory would secure Hart's first quarterfinal appearance since 1999, when the Indians shared the Div. II title with Woodbridge of Irvine.

A win would also tie the program record for victories in a season.

And it could also produce a rematch in the round of eight with Royal of Simi Valley, which played Hart to a scoreless draw earlier in the season. It was one of only two games in which the Indians were shut out this season.

So close: Although Valencia (11-8-4) needed a tie between West Ranch and Saugus in the regular-season finale to qualify for the Div. II playoffs, the Vikings nearly pulled off a first-round stunner Friday, surrendering a goal in the final minute to suffer a 1-0 loss at Thousand Oaks.

Valencia had a clean look at the goal with 12 minutes remaining that hit the crossbar, but Thousand Oaks (19-4-3) survived the scare thanks to a late score by Jennifer Arauz.

"We didn't play very well, but Valencia definitely played us hard and they had their chances to win," Thousand Oaks coach Geoff Raives said. "If that shot goes in, it could've been a totally different outcome."

Senior goalkeeper Brooke Gauvin recorded 12 saves for Valencia, which suffered its third 1-0 loss of the season.

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