GRIFFIN SPORTS: Girls Soccer at Mira Costa; Dance wins Nationals; Softball downs No. 2 OLu, and girls flag football is OK’d.

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The Los Al Girls Soccer team travels to Manhattan Beach to take on Mira Costa in a CIF Division I Playoff Quarterfinal match.

The Griffins, ranked No 5 in Division I going into the playoffs, bring a 16-6-5 record into the game. They defeated Mater Dei 1-0 in the Opening Round. 

Mira Costa, which was unranked, upset No. 4 seed Temecula Valley.   They have only lost twice on the season, although they have seven draws.  Overall they are 12-2-7. 

The winners move on to Friday’s semi-finals where they will play the winner of Santiago-Oaks Christian match. Santiago is the No. 1 seed. The brackets can be seen here.


Song Team Dances to another Title at Nationals

The Los Al Dance squad returned from Florida last week with another United Dance Association (UDA) national title to add to their already huge collection of trophies and awards. Competing against the top teams in the nation atb the annual UDA Competition at Disney World’s ESPN facilities, then Griffins won their fifth Game Day National title. It capped off a strong week min which the quad also took 2nd in the Pom category and 4th in Jazz.

The Cheer squad is currently competing in Florida.

More videos from the competition can be seen at the Song and Cheer photo gallery site.


SPRING SPORTS: Softball Varsity collects first win

Allysa Ramos gets two-run homer to lead Los Al to win

The Los Al Griffins notched their first softball win of the season, downing No. 2 ranked Orange Lutheran 2-1. 

Junior pitcher Cari Ferguson got the win with Senior Berkeley Vance entering in the fifth to close the Lancers out.

Alyssa Ramos had the big hit of the game with a two-run home run, which was enough against OLU’s ace Notre Dame-bound Brianne Weiss, who had 11 strikeouts.

Weiss has committed to play at Notre Dame, but the the Griffins have some good college commitments on their own roster. Ramos, a junior, has committed to play at Iowa and Vance and Ferguson have committed to Seattle and Santa Clara. Other Griffins who have committed to play college ball are outfielders Julie Holcomb (San Diego State), Callie Fitzpatrick (Long Beach State), Malayna Terrones (Long Beach State) and infielders Giselle Alvarez (Washington), Gabby Terrones,

“This was a big win for us,” said Los Al coach Rob Weil after his Griffins evened their record at 1-1. They lost their opener 3-0 on Saturday to perennial power Norco. Those two teams may get a chance to meet again before the CIF playoffs as both are among the top four seeds at the Michelle Carew Tournament which begins in late March. They also may meet before that as both will play at the annual Tournament of Champions in Bullhead, Arizona from March 9-11.

The Griffins were ranked No. 3 in the preseason OC Register rankings and No. 5 in the preseason CIF poll, right behind league Sunset League rival Huntington Beach.

The Sunset League will not split into a Surf and Wave Division this year as Laguna Beach will not field a Varsity squad. But the league will still be among the section’s finest with HB, Los Al and Marina (ranked No. 10 in OC). 

The JV team hosts Pacifica this afternoon.


In other Spring Sports action, the Los Al Girls Lacrosse team downed host Mission Viejo 16-6. The Lady LAXers return to action on Thursday against El Dorado.

Boys Tennis officially starts its 2023 season on Tuesday, hosting Beckman on the Los Al courts.


GIRLS FLAG FOOTBALL APPROVED AS CIF SPORT

The State CIF Governing Board has voted unanimously(146-0)  to make Girls Flag Football an official CIF sport.  Rge action opened the door for the formation of teams, leagues and playoffs at every level — section, regional and state. Late last year, the CIF Southern Section voted to support the proposal, and local athletes enthusiasts waited anxiously for State level approval.

Many details have to be worked out but fortunately, the sport already has the basics already in place since many communities (such as the local FNL) and the NFL and Nike have been promoting girls flag football for years. The big decisions will probably be when each section holds its season. That could be contentious due to field conflicts and competition for athletes from other sports.

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