Buzzing right along to the end of the winter sports Year in Reviews with girls soccer today. Into spring Wednesday with baseball, just in time for the only professional sports off-day of the entire year, the day after the All-Star Game.

2008-09 Kern County GIRLS SOCCER

Overview: After a couple of years of Bakersfield vs. Stockdale supremacy arguments, Liberty thrust itself to the forefront of this year’s discussion at the early-season Garces Holiday Soccer Festival by beating Buchanan and tying Stockdale (though the Mustangs won on penalty kicks), then tying Stockdale again later and beating Bakersfield twice. But it was Stockdale who went farther in the end, shocking previously unbeaten Clovis in the Division I section semifinals before losing to Buchanan in the final for the second straight year. Buchanan also took out Liberty in the semifinals.
Elsewhere, it was a magical finish to the season for Frontier, which had a solid season but was rewarded with just a No. 8 seed in the Division II playoffs. Undeterred, the Titans went off, beating Lemoore in a shootout, top-seeded Tulare Union in a shootout, and 2-1 at Visalia-Redwood. After all that, Frontier got to come back home for the Division II final because No. 11 Reedley had made its own Cinderella run out of the other side of the bracket. This time, Frontier had its stadium lights ready for the first time in school history. They made the most of the occasion and pounded Reedley 4-0.
Golden Valley, fourth behind Liberty, BHS and Garces in the talented SEYL, made another surprising playoff run, going from the No. 4 seed to beat Clovis North in overtime for the first girls soccer title in school history. Bakersfield Christian had a case of the almosts, missing out on the SEYL title at icy Tehachapi and then on the Division V section title by a 1-0 score to SLO-Mission Prep.

Best team: Really, really difficult call here once Stockdale outlasted Liberty in the playoff chase. The teams tied in both of their meetings, and Stockdale actually won the first, in the Garces tournament final, on penalty kicks. But I’m going to stick with Liberty. Both went unbeaten and untied in their league, but the SEYL was tougher. Stockdale lost to Bakersfield when they played; Liberty beat ’em twice. And yes, Stockdale knocked off No. 1 seed Clovis, but the real top dog in the section was Buchanan, and the Patriots beat the Bears at the Garces tourney and then gave them a fight in the section semis. Stockdale did not put up much of a fight in the final. You’ll probably be able to make a good argument the other way around if you tried, but I’ll stick to my guns. Liberty it is.
Honorable mention: Stockdale, Bakersfield, Garces, Frontier, Tehachapi, Bakersfield Christian

Best player: Another tough call, same schools involved, and this time I’ll go the other way. Stockdale’s Erica Shelton proved that she was as dangerous a scoring threat from the midfield — 25 goals and 18 assists — as any player was in the county from any position. Shelton, a junior, already is a bigtime recruit, and it was her influence and play that allowed the Mustangs to rebound as well as they did from losing nine starters off of their 2007-08 section finalist team. The other side of the argument is the marvelous Mariah Alvidrez, a Liberty junior who was among the top two or three volleyball and soccer players around. She finished the year with 26 goals and 12 assists. Alvidrez blew out her knee as a sophomore during soccer season, so this was a great rebound year for her as well. The best part? We get to have this argument all over again next season, when these two are seniors.
Honorable mention: Stockdale M Michelle Spinner, Bakersfield F Sam Pena, Liberty D Darci Smith, Bakersfield M Elizabeth Crowe, Centennial M Jessica Crowe, Frontier F Cami Privett

Best game: Liberty’s early-season results had been encouraging, but the Patriots still had yet to play the defending SEYL champions, Bakersfield. So the first time they laced it up, at BHS, the winner was going to have some serious leverage in the league race — and the loser some serious catching up to do. What transpired was a classic. After a scoreless first half, Alvidrez broke through in the 44th minute, a pretty finish off of a cross from Olivia Gonzalez. Samantha Callagy answered for the Drillers just three minutes later. The game stayed tied — and almost finished that way — until, in second-half stoppage time, Alvidrez gave Liberty its most important goal of the regular season, a turn-and-shoot finish that gave the Pats a 2-1 victory and sent them on their way to a perfect league season.
Honorable mention: Frontier 2, Tulare Union 1, shootout, Division II quarterfinals; Stockdale 1, Clovis 0, Division I semifinals; Stockdale 0, Liberty 0, Stockdale wins in shootout; Liberty 3, Bakersfield 1 (second meeting); Stockdale 3, Liberty 3; Bakersfield 3, Stockdale 2.

A look ahead: As I alluded to earlier, Liberty and Stockdale both have their top gun coming back — Alvidrez for the Patriots and Shelton for the Mustangs — for what should be a shootout of a senior year. Both, however lose a key teammate, Spinner of Stockdale and Smith of Liberty. Where will that leave us? Probably with the same big three — Bakersfield will need some lesser-known players to step up to stay in that group — but with a slight opening for others to join. I’m looking at young, successful Frontier perhaps to take that step towards competing with the city’s best. Centennial, too, always seems to be close; it would be wise to keep an eye on the Golden Hawks in what should be a wide-open year.
Garces, Bakersfield Christian and Golden Valley also are smaller-division candidates for an up-and-coming role.

Year in Review Index
July 1: Football
July 2: Volleyball
July 3: Boys cross country
July 6: Girls cross country
July 7: Girls tennis
July 8: Girls golf
July 9: Boys basketball
July 10: Girls basketball
July 11: Wrestling
July 13: Boys soccer

Tomorrow: Baseball