U14 Girls State Cup Finals Recap

U14 Girls State Final

Placer United 3, Pajaro Valley 1

Woman of the Match: Karley Garcia

Though Pajaro Valley — the only non-NPL club left in the girls side of the State Bracket — threatened early and often, Placer United were able to capture an NPL Champions League and State Cup double through opportunistic finishing and hard-nosed defending.

The danger woman for Pajaro Valley all afternoon was Gisselle Vasquez, who had the game’s first big chance in just the 12th minute, but was only able to throttle her shot off the crossbar after a one v one with Placer goalkeeper Emma Hoffman.

A few minutes later, Placer finally broke through with the first of two goals from Karley Garcia — and one that she’ll remember for a long time. About 20 yards out from goal, Garcia picked up a pass from Paulina Caja, turned, and blasted it into the lower right corner for the first goal of the game.

Right before halftime, Placer doubled their advantage, with Jordan Gotham striking from the right side of the box on a low shot that somehow snuck its way inside the near post.

And two minutes after the break, the game was all-but iced with Garcia’s second goal. Placer played a short corner to Schafer, who attempted to bend the ball to the far post. Though Schafer’s shot was saved, the rebound fell to Garcia, who thrashed it home for a 3-0 lead.

Vasquez finally pulled one back for Pajaro on a breakaway after dribbling Hoffman, but it was too little, too late, coming in the 59th minute.