The 36th annual Barons Cup remains San Diego County’s longest-running high school girls soccer tournament. This year’s varsity and junior varsity finals took place last Saturday at Sweetwater High School.
The 30-team tournament kicked off Dec. 1 at various fields around the region. Rain interrupted play with heavy downpours later in the week, though tournament director Robert Blas said postponed matches were made up prior to the finals.
“Everything went well up to the rain,” Blas said. “We postponed games only on grass fields, and we later made them up. We lost the field at Hilltop (due to unforeseen circumstances) but luckily Sweetwater was able to step up. Everyone played here (for the finals).”
Thirteen teams participated in Varsity Division play while 17 teams participated in the Junior Varsity/Freshman Division.
Game day
The tournament wrapped up with several closely fought games, including the Junior Varsity Flight 3 final in which Bonita Vista’s freshman team topped host Sweetwater’s JV team, 2-1, in an exciting overtime match.
Jasmine Lorenz scored 15 minutes into the opening half to boost the Barons to a 1-0 lead. Bonita Vista dominated play in the first half as well as in overtime.
Sweetwater, which dominated play in the second half, tied the match on a goal by Viviana Tejeda with 11:45 left in regulation play to force overtime.
The Red Devils had numerous opportunities to score in the well-played match by both teams. The Barons generated several good scoring plays in the waning minutes but were unable to end the match until the overtime period.
Lorenz had a chance to hand Bonita Vista a win on the last play in regulation on a penalty kick but hit the shot just over the crossbar.
The overtime period started with 10 players, with each team to remove an additional player after each scoreless five-minute overtime period.
The first five-minute period was scoreless, though Bonita Vista did slam the ball off the crossbar in a bid to win the game.
The game-winning goal came when the teams were nine players a side in the second overtime. The ball bounded in front of the Sweetwater net off a corner kick. As the ball was bouncing to the far side, Jayden McPherson managed to nudge the ball over the goal line for the winner.
Jackie Rondario BV earned the Junior Varsity Flight 3 Most Valuable Player award.
The Varsity Flight 2 final also featured a dramatic ending as Castle Park’s Sasha Rodriguez scored with just 30 seconds remaining in regulation play in a 1-0 defeat of Sweetwater.
The goal was the third in the tournament for Rodriguez, who earned honors as the division Most Valuable Player.
Sophomore Aurora Segura finished with two goals in the tournament.
Head coach Victor Vargas noted that Segura’s father is Sweetwater Union High School District board member Nicholas Segura Jr.
“He and his wife are big fans of our program and enjoy coming out and cheering for Aurora as she runs around the field like a little ‘mouse’ (nickname used by her mother),” Vargas said.
The tournament showing was particularly memorable for Sweetwater, which captured two runner-up plaques in the tournament.
The Red Devils’ varsity team improved to 4-1-2 following the tournament.
Two Varsity Division finals and three JV division finals rounded out the day at Sweetwater High School.
Bonita Vista topped Granite Hills, 3-1, to win the Varsity Flight 1 title. Alyza Eckhardt scored all three goals for the Barons to earn division MVP honors.
Blas said winning the division title in its namesake tournament was a big boost for the Bonita Vista program.
“We hadn’t been in the final for a while,” Blas said.
Torrey Pines defeated Del Norte, 5-3, to win the JV Flight 1 title while Cathedral Catholic edged Hilltop, 3-2, to capture the JV Flight 2 division championship.
BARONS CUP SCOREBOARD
POOL PLAY ROUND
Varsity Division
Saturday, Dec. 1
Olympian 3, Grossmont 1
Bonita Vista 2, Francis Parker 0
San Ysidro 9, High Tech High Chula Vista 0
Southwest 2, Castle Park 2
Chula Vista 1-0 (forfeit)
San Diego 0, Mt. Carmel 0
Granite Hills 2, Otay Ranch 0
Sweetwater 7, Madison 0
Hilltop 3, El Capitan 0
Ramona 1, Mar Vista 1
Monday, Dec. 3
Mt. Carmel 2, Ramona 0
Mar Vista 1, San Diego 1
El Capitan 1, Chula Vista 1
Grossmont 5, Otay Ranch 2
San Ysidro 7, Madison 0
Tuesday, Dec. 4
Bonita Vista 1-0 (forfeit)
Granite Hills 2, Hilltop 0
Olympian 5, Francis Parker 0
Wednesday, Dec. 5
Castle Park 6, High Tech High Chula Vista 0
Southwest 4, Sweetwater 0
Mt. Carmel 2, Mar Vista 0
Chula Vista 1, Francis Parker 0
Otay Ranch 1, El Capitan 0
Thursday, Dec. 6
Grossmont 4, Bonita Vista 0
Hilltop 1-0 (forfeit)
Granite Hills 2, Olympian 0
Junior Varsity Division
Saturday, Dec. 1
Hilltop 3 – Castle Park 0
Southwest (frosh) 6, Madison 0
Olympian 5, Grossmont 0
San Diego 1, Mt. Carmel 0
Eastlake 3, Steele Canyon 0
Bonita Vista 5, Francis Parker 0
Cathedral Catholic 5, El Capitan 0
Torrey Pines 4, Del Norte 0
Granite Hills 2, Rancho Bernardo 1
Monday, Dec. 3
Southwest 2, Castle Park 0
Bonita Vista 9, El Capitan 0
Cathedral Catholic 3, Grossmont 0
Tuesday, Dec. 4
Eastlake 4, Del Norte 0
Olympian 5, Francis Parker 0
San Diego 0, Hilltop 0
Wednesday, Dec. 5
Torrey Pines 0, Granite Hills 0
Mt. Carmel 8, Madison 0
Rancho Bernardo 6, Steele Canyon 1
Freshman Division
Saturday, Dec. 1
Eastlake 3, Rancho Bernardo 1
Chula Vista 3, Bonita Vista 1
Montgomery 0, Hilltop 0
Cathedral Catholic 3, Torrey Pines 0
Steele Canyon 1, Otay Ranch 0
Del Norte 3, Olympian 0
Monday, Dec. 3
Cathedral Catholic 0, Del Norte 0
Steele Canyon 4, Torrey Pines 1
Tuesday, Dec. 4
Otay Ranch 7, Olympian 0
Wednesday, Dec. 5
Eastlake 13, Montgomery 0
Thursday, Dec. 6
Rancho Bernardo 1, Bonita Vista 0 (forfeit)
Chula Vista 6, Hilltop 0
Barons Cup Finals
Saturday, Dec. 8
Varsity Flight 1
Bonita Vista 3, Granite Hills 1
Varsity Flight 2
Castle Park 1, Sweetwater 0
Junior Varsity Flight 1
Torrey Pines 5, Del Norte 3
Junior Varsity Flight 2
Cathedral Catholic 3, Hilltop 2
Junior Varsity Flight 3
Bonita Vista (frosh) 2, Sweetewater (JV) 1 (2OT)
