THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Whitney High School Athletics

There were tears, hugs, and jubilation when the final whistle sounded Thursday night at Rocklin High School after the Whitney High girls soccer team clinched its second CIF Sac-Joaquin Section title in school history. Behind outstanding goalie play, ferocious defense and a little luck, the Lady ‘Cats secured the 3-0 victory over St. Francis to capture the Division II title. “(This feeling) is honestly amazing,” Whitney senior Kiera Utush said on the victory. “This team is always there for each other and even though we were underdogs coming in, we really wanted this win.” Despite being underdogs on paper, Whitney came out of the gates and didn’t play as such. The ‘Cats shot the ball early and often, which resulted in a ball hitting the post in the opening minute of the game. Whitney, however, did find the back of the net in the 24th minute when off a deflection, Utush blasted the ball to the top of the net to take a 1-0 lead that would hold all the way up until the half. “Coming into this game, this team really wanted this victory for not only themselves but for the school, coaches and everyone else,” Whitney head coach Ana Jones said on their team's mentality coming into the game. “When our team got out to a fast start, it really set the tone that we weren’t the underdog.” In the second half, Sydney Johnson added to Whitney's lead when she scored her team-leading 14th goal of the season. Seven minutes later is when chaos ensued. Just when St. Francis thought they had found its first goal of the game, the referee called it a no-goal. While St. Francis was celebrating what they thought was a goal, Utush raced down the field, found the ball and put it to the back of the net. The goal gave Whitney a 3-0 lead with 21 minutes remaining. “As soon as the ref said it wasn’t a goal, I sprinted down to the other end of the field when our goalie kicked it,” Utush said on the crazy sequence that led to the third goal for Whitney. “I just saw their keeper was out of the box so I just shot my shot and it went in.” Although the Troubadours had their chances down the stretch, Whitney freshman goalie Reese Clarke played lights out. The ‘Cats would go on to win their first title since 2009 when Whitney was in the D-IV bracket and beat Sierra, 4-0. “(Our goalie) stepped it up to the highest level possible tonight,” Jones said. “She didn’t want to let the seniors down and she played amazing the whole game.” Also with the win, Whitney avenges its section title loss they suffered to Roseville in 2017. That game came down to penalty kicks, and Utush remembered that feeling coming into Thursday night’s game along with her fellow senior teammates. “Going into the game, it was in the back of my head that we don’t want to lose again,” she said. “My co-captain and I really came into this game and wanted to give it our all.” Whitney will look ahead to next week's NorCal playoffs and expect to draw a top seed. Davis 2 Granite Bay 1 Coming into the game, despite the No.1 vs. No.2 matchup on paper, the Grizzlies were big underdogs. Taking on the mighty Davis Blue Devils, a team that was looking to capture its fourth straight section championship, Granite Bay played until the final whistle. Despite a late goal by Granite Bay to cut the deficit to one, the clock struck midnight for the Grizzlies, falling to Davis 2-1. The Grizzlies’ defense was fearless in the first half, led by goalie Summer Holt, who made many key saves and despite Davis controlling possession nearly the entire first half, Granite Bay went into the intermission period at a draw with the Blue Devils. “(Summer) has been a starter for us since freshman year and she’s been great the whole year,” Granite Bay girls head coach Mark Broers said. “She hasn’t allowed a goal all season up until tonight. She has really good defenders around her and they all play really well together.” As the game went on in the second half, it looked like the Grizzlies would take their opponent to the overtime period for the third straight postseason game. But Davis senior Paige Rubinstein had other plans. She blasted a ball to the left to score the game's first goal in the 68th minute. Megan Looney followed just minutes later with another goal for Davis to take a 2-0 lead with eight minutes to play. Just when the Grizzlies’ hopes looked dead, Aleah Treiterer gave Granite Bay life. Her goal with just minutes left cut the lead down to 2-1. “Our team kept fighting tonight,” Broers said. “(Aleah) took the ball nicely on that sequence and put it in the net. Her goal gave our team hope in the last few minutes that we might actually tie the game up.” Despite the late push, it wasn’t enough and Granite Bay fell to Davis by one goal for the second straight year. The Grizzlies will still receive a berth to the CIF NorCal playoffs and could host a game despite finishing second in the section. “Our team might actually get a home game on Tuesday because coming in, Davis was the only team ranked ahead of us in NorCal,” Broers said. “I believe in this team and I think they can bounce back and surprise some teams in the next round.”

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Whitney High School Athletics

WHITNEY TRIUMPHS, GRANITE BAY FALLS IN SECTION CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES

CAMERON SATERNO

Placer Herald | 2/22/2019

PHOTO CREDIT: Cameron Salerno