Thousand Oaks girls’ soccer secured a dramatic 2-1 overtime victory against Alta Loma in the CIF-Southern Section Division 2 semifinals on Saturday night, earning a spot in the championship game for the first time since 2008.
The Lancers defeated Moorpark 2-1 in 2008 to win the school’s first CIF-SS girls’ soccer title. Similarly, the 2008 team competed in Division 2.
Sophomore Maddie Linville played a pivotal role, scoring in regulation and assisting on the game-winning goal in overtime. Senior Riley Pink delivered the strike just five minutes into overtime, sending the Lancers to the title match.
“We were focused and hungry to win,” assistant coach Adrian Ruiz said. “Overtime didn’t change anything; we had one thing on our minds, and it was to win that game. We’ve been in situations where we needed a goal to take the lead, and I knew we were going to do just that.”
The Lancers are now looking to capture their second CIF-SS title. The girls’ soccer team is preparing for its biggest match in over a decade.
“We celebrate these moments,” Ruiz said. “But the girls know that the job’s not done. We recover, go over film, and focus on whatever it takes to win Thousand Oaks a CIF title.”
Thousand Oaks (12-7-3) will face Warren (12-3-3), which defeated Mira Costa in a penalty-kick shootout, on Saturday at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Long Beach at 1 p.m.
