PHOTOS: Crean Lutheran keeps rolling in opening round of CIF SoCal regionals

Mia Johnson maintains control for the Saints as Scarlett Gutierrez of South Gate defends Tuesday night. (Photos courtesy Crean Lutheran Shutterbugs / Howard Lyon and John Luciano).

Crean Lutheran High School’s girls soccer team, which clinched its first CIF title in the history of the program Saturday night, continued its outstanding play Tuesday in the opening round of the CIF Southern California Division IV Regionals at home.

The Saints scored three goals in the first half to take control and went on to capture a 5-0 victory over South Gate. No. 3-seeded Crean Lutheran, which recorded its sixth shutout of the post-season, moves on to the semifinals Thursday on the road against No. 2 seeded Granada Hills Charter.

It was also Crean Lutheran’s 14th shut-out overall, a school record, surpassing the previous school mark of 11. The Saints (20-3-3) have allowed just one goal in the playoffs.

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“The girls came out really good tonight and moved the ball a lot better,” said Crean Lutheran Coach Stephen Jennings. “South Gate had a good record. I think we caught them by surprise a little bit tonight; I don’t think they thought we were going to be as good as were. These girls just keep rolling.

“We had some meetings beforehand about leaving legacies and we’ve already done pretty much what we feel we come to do and win CIF and a championship. Now, everything else is just icing on the cake and we’re enjoying every moment of every game.”

Illa Sunderland, Malaina Duro and Anna Gwon had the goals for the Saints in the first half. South Gate was unable to get a shot off against the Crean Lutheran defense, led by goalkeeper Brooklynn Acevedo.

In the second half, Mia Johnson added two insurance goals for the Saints.

“We’ve only gotten beat one time at home this entire season,” Jennings said. “And it was by the best team in our league, Pacifica who was 10-0 and a Division 1 program. We’re creating a little bit of a powerhouse and a fortress and we have to keep that up.

“It’s great tonight to get all these players in and give the girls an opportunity to play and the most important thing for me is how much I loved hearing the girls on the sideline cheer for the girls who cheer for them. That’s what it’s all about.”

Acevedo, the goalkeeper, fielded only only shot in the second half, but she was proud of the effort of her teammates.

“It feels really great to win actually,” Acevedo said. “I think we have a really strong defense and that’s probably one of the biggest strengths of our team. Everybody in the back, like Lauren Novell, Avarie Tierney, Hannah Montford, Taylor Hook, everyone on the defense is strong and that contributed to our shutouts as well.”

Acevedo, like her teammates, was thrilled to earn the 1-0 victory over Hemet in the finals Saturday.

“That was super exciting and it started hailing at one point and I couldn’t even see,” she said. “But the adrenaline was going and I was super excited. We just came in with the attitude that we wanted to win.”

The finals of the regional are on Saturday. No. 1 El Rancho hosts No. 5 Hemet in the other semifinal Thursday.

—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com