Temecula Valley and Great Oak girls soccer teams play to scoreless draw – Press Enterprise

TEMECULA — Shots on goal were plentiful Tuesday night in a key Southwestern League girls soccer match as defending champion Great Oak hosted Temecula Valley.

However, finishes weren’t as abundant despite a combined 15 shots on goal and the two sides played to a 0-0 tie.

With three matches to go, Temecula Valley maintains a one-point lead over both the Wolfpack and Murrieta Valley, a 7-0 winner over Chaparral. Both sides still have matches against Murrieta Valley remaining on the schedule (Temecula Valley on Thursday, and Great Oak next Tuesday).

“Ties feel like losses but I thought the girls were able to play our brand of soccer for much of the match against a quality side in Temecula Valley and keep ourselves in the race to defend our title with two matches left,” Wolfpack coach Diana Arban said.

“This was a program that went 1-9 the year before I got here, so to see that kind of progress this quickly has been fun to watch. It’s what you play for, to get to the final week playing meaningful matches before postseason play starts.”

Great Oak (11-6-2 overall, 6-1-1 in league) controlled possession for much of the first half and was able to keep the ball on Temecula Valley’s attacking third without breaking through.

Angelina Bologna had a shot in the 25th minute off of a throw-in that missed just high for the Wolfpack. Five minutes prior to that, Paris Lewis had a look in traffic that Temecula Valley goalkeeper Celia Ramos was able to clear with a header.

Ramos recorded a clean sheet with five saves for the Golden Bears.

After intermission. Temecula Valley (9-2-8, 6-0-2) swung possession in the other direction and consistently generated scoring opportunities of its own with none getting through. In the match’s latter moments, the Golden Bears got a pair of good looks as Arianna Harrell and Eilee Maines had shots that also missed high.

“We’re young and rebuilding and the scary thing is that I don’t feel like we’re playing our best soccer yet,” Temecula Valley coach Jennifer Guinn said. “Our backline really did a good job in that first half to keep the clean sheet considering the number of quality opportunities Great Oak got.

“At the half we wanted to try and swing the possession battle our way and we were able to do that but just couldn’t get one through. We’re still in the title race and that’s all I can ask for.”