Photos by Steve Galluzzo
By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor
Ever since the City Section girls soccer playoff seedings came out Palisades High coach Christian Chambers anticipated a semifinal rematch against San Pedro, the team that knocked his Dolphins out of the playoffs 1-0 last year on a rain-drenched pitch he described as a “mud puddle.”
On Tuesday, Palisades had home field advantage and after 80 minutes of regulation and 30 additional minutes of overtime the second-seeded Dolphins avenged a quarterfinal defeat 12 months prior by beating the third-seeded Pirates 3-1 in the shootout to earn their first trip to the Division I finals since their 2-1 loss to El Camino Real two years ago.
Palisades (17-1) will take on No. 1 Granada Hills (16-0-4) for the championship Saturday night at 6 at Valley College.
Ariella McNulty scored the Dolphins’ only goal on a header off a cross from Lily Gruber in the 25th minute but San Pedro’s Isis Valdes tied it on a penalty kick with 16:30 left. With two of their goalies injured the Dolphins turned to captain Ava Kerkorian in the shootout. She converted her try and made two saves.
In the quarterfinal round last Thursday, Ashley Sloan scored twice, Sadie Holt and Izzy Gill each added a goal, Kerkorian had two assists, Dylan Tzung had one assist and freshman goalkeeper Giorgia Sterza made three saves in a 4-0 shutout of No. 7-seeded Chatsworth.
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