The Pali-Cats, a local AYSO girls U-10 ‘A’ team, ended its all-star season by winning the San Fernando Valley Mission Classic at Balboa Park in Encino. The Cats won both of their pool play games convincingly Saturday, blanking Diamond Bar 5-0 and Van Nuys’ B team 7-0. Lizzy Thomas returned from a four-month injury to tally a goal and an assist. Scoring was distributed evenly as Mackenzie Gray and Mackenzie Howe scored goals along with Mikaela Hong, Jillian Apel, Dori Morris, Emma Schwartz, Sarah Trenton and Emma Sanderson. Against stiffer competition on Sunday the Cats stayed cool under pressure, proving up to the challenge with strong play by Macaulay Porter and goals from Apel, Gray, Sanderson, Dani Cohen and Maya Schneiderman propelled Pali to a 3-2 victory over Van Nuys’ A team and a 5-0 win over Woodland Hills. In the championship game against Diamond Bar’s A team Sunday afternoon, Howe showed determination and skill in netting a hat trick that earned the Cats a 3-2 win. Over the course of their 54-14-2 season, the Pali-Cats won five tournament championships, five silver medals and two bronze medals.
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