Jordan Darrow’s OT Winner Lifts Pali High Soccer to City Final
By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor
When Jordan Darrow got her chance five minutes into the second overtime period, she made sure she didn’t miss it. Her left-footed shot from 15 yards out found the right corner of the net and the Palisades High girls soccer team held on to beat South East 5-4 on Tuesday to advance to the City Section Division I finals for the first time in four seasons under Coach Christian Chambers.
“Meghan [Jones] passed it and I was just thinking I need to run off their players and get this done,” said Darrow, who had scored off a feed from Sadie Holt to give the Dolphins a 3-2 lead in the 53rd minute. “I’m so excited to be going to the finals. We want to win for all the seniors.”
Frankie Van Norden, whose shot from 30 yards out tied the game 2-2 in the 51st minute, was issued her second yellow card early in the first overtime and sent off, forcing the Dolphins to go the remainder of the game with 10 players.
Moments later, Georgia Calvert scored off a cross from Darrow to tie it 4-4. The 10th-seeded Jaguars had scored in the opening minute of overtime when the referee ruled that Jessica Rivera’s shot off the crossbar landed across the goal line.
Palisades was poised to win in regulation but a long shot by Ana Gutierrez bounced over goalkeeper Rachel Phillips and into the net with one minute remaining to level the score 3-3.
“As a coach I can’t ask for anything more… to do what you did, especially without one of our best defenders in overtime—you earned every ounce of this win,” Chambers told his players afterwards. “We had some calls go against us, but you kept playing hard. Enjoy this for tonight, then it’s back to work tomorrow.”
The third-seeded Dolphins will take on top-seeded El Camino Real for the championship Saturday at 4 p.m. at Valley College. The Conquistadores rallied to beat fifth-seeded San Pedro 2-1, also in overtime, Tuesday’s other semifinal. Palisades and El Camino Real tied 0-0 in a tournament game Jan. 6 at Stadium by the Sea.
The Dolphins have never won the Division I title. Their last appearance was in 2014 when they lost in a shootout to Granada Hills.
In the quarterfinals last Thursday, Holt scored in the 67th minute to lift the Dolphins to a 1-0 victory over sixth-seeded Chatsworth. With her back to the goal, Holt flicked a pass from Darrow into the net.
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