VARSITY
HIGHLIGHTS & NEWS
JANUARY 31, 2019
MOORE LEAGUE CHAMPIONS
THE 562.ORG
None of the players on the Millikan girls’ soccer team were alive the last time the Rams won the Moore League championship, a shared title in 1991. In fact, the last time they won the league title by themselves, their head coach was just a baby–it was 1985.
Thanks to a 1-1 draw with Long Beach Poly on Thursday evening during a merciful break in the rainy weather, the Rams are Moore League champions this year after an undefeated 9-0-3 league season.
“I can’t even put it into words,” said Rams coach Tino Nunez, who was an All-CIF soccer player at Millikan on the Rams’ 2001 CIF championship team. “I’m a Ram, to do something like this at your school, it means so much.”
PRESS TELEGRAM
Millikan’s bid for its first Moore League title in girls soccer in at least two decades got off to a perfect start, with Karli Slater providing an advantage just 50 seconds into Thursday’s showdown with Poly.
Savanna Alba made a diving stop on Skyler Herrera, Emily Tamayo stopped another Herrera blast with her face, and the Rams came up with big defensive plays again and again to finish one point ahead of the Jackrabbits (11-1-2, 9-1-2).
“Oh, that second half, 40 minutes. Oh my God, I survived it,” head coach Tino Nuñez said as his players celebrated around him. “You like the early goal, but it’s also a dangerous goal. Because now they’re awake, you play a little more frantic, the nerves get you a little bit more.
“This group has shown resilient, a lot of heart, and mentally they’re tough. They deserve it.”
DECEMBER 5, 2019
MILLIKAN 2-1 POLY
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In past years, before the Long Beach Unified School District upgraded most of the city’s high school soccer fields to artificial turf, Moore League soccer matches were often muddy, messy grudge matches. Since the passage of the bond that allowed the upgrades, most soccer games are now technical and beautiful, with ball movement and precise passing.
Thursday’s league opener between reigning league champion Millikan and Long Beach Poly was an old-school affair, played on an old-school grass field in old-school mud. The Rams came up with the last-minute magic to start their title defense on a positive note, defeating the Jackrabbits 2-1.
PRESS TELEGRAM
LONG BEACH — Millikan took a quick first step in the Moore League girls soccer race Thursday night, pulling out a 2-1 victory over visiting Long Beach Poly on Alyssa Reyes’ 80th-minute strike, a huge result in what’s expected to again be a three-team fight with Wilson for the title.
“I told the girls: Tonight we’re not going to win or lose Moore League. But it would be a great way to start league,” Rams head coach Tino Nuñez said. “Because every point counts — as we know, as last year we won it by one point — and when you’re able to take a point away, especially from a Poly or a Wilson, and add them for yourself, that’s always a big plus.”
FEBRUARY 16, 2019
CIF ROUND I: MILLIKAN 1-1 LA MIRADA
3–0 ON SPOT KICKS
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Isabella Meyer hadn’t participated in a penalty kick shootout for Millikan until Wednesday night when she begged her coach for a chance, promised her teammates she wouldn’t let them down, and then delivered the performance of a lifetime.
After 100 scoreless minutes in the first round CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs, Meyer stopped the first three penalty kick shootout attempts from visiting La Mirada to push the Rams (14-6-7) into the second round of the top flight for the first time in school history.
PRESS TELEGRAM
Isabella Meyer was clear from the start: If Millikan went to penalty kicks in its CIF Southern Section girls soccer playoff opener, the Rams could count on her.
The sophomore goalkeeper was true to her word Wednesday night, stopping all three of La Mirada’s shots to lead Millikan (12-6-8) into the second round of the Division 1 tournament – and a home showdown Friday with two-time defending champion JSerra (15-0-3), ranked No. 1 in the nation – following a 0-0 draw on the Rams’ bumpy field.
JANUARY 24, 2019
MILLIKAN 2-0 LAKEWOOD
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The Rams stayed in first place with a game in hand thanks to goals from Alyssa Moran and Azalia Salazar. The Millikan defense collected its 13th shutout of the season, and the Rams have only allowed one league goal. Sophomore goalkeepers Isabella Meyer and Savanna Alba split time.
JANUARY 8, 2019
MILLIKAN 2-1 POLY