Louisville’s Kylie Morris and Miye Kodama celebrate their victory during their CIF-SS Division 4 girls soccer final at Crespi High in Encino on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024. Louisville beat Monrovia 2-0 to win the championship. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
ENCINO — As a midfielder, Louisville’s Kylie Morris tends to sit just behind the ball, seeking opportunities to win it from her opponent with a tackle, and in turn spurring a Royals attack.
“Kylie runs that midfield like it’s no one’s business,” said Royals striker Miye Kodama. “She controls the tempo. She wins the balls. She kind of just sets the pace for us. If we’re pushing, she’s the one pushing. If we’re holding, she’s the one holding.”
On Friday, Morris played a big role in both of Louisville’s goals in a 2-0 win over Monrovia to capture the CIF Southern Section Division 4 championship at Crespi High School.
She hounded the Wildcats, dispossessing them as they tried to dribble it before sending long balls that wreaked havoc.
Kodama and Emma Castro both scored for Louisville and goal-keeper Emily Brown recorded five saves. Monrovia had 11 shots and dominated possession for the majority of the game.
The Royals (21-2-1) rarely strung together a series of play, instead they used those long balls — both in the form of passes and defensive clearances — to disrupt any flow built by Monrovia (16-3-1) as it attempted to erase the first-half deficit.
In the 13th minute, Morris stuck a foot in to turn the Wildcats over in their own half before quickly passing the ball up to Castro. Castro took one look at Kodama, sending a lob through-ball to the striker who needed just one touch to slot it in the net.
Kodama didn’t even see the ball go in and had to leave the game briefly as she was shaken up on the play.
“I was jumping up in the air to kick it,” Kodama said. “They swept my feet under so I was looking at the sky and I hit my head.”
After Kodama’s opening goal, the Royals dropped their 4-5-1 formation deeper, keeping each player except Kodama even with or behind the ball to prevent Monrovia from any clear cut chances.
Monrovia’s first opportunity came in the 29th minute, despite holding possession for most of the half. Striker Ava Hackworth tested Brown with a powerful long shot from 20 yards out and Brown parried it.
One minute before the halftime whistle, the Royals rode a similar formula to their second goal. Morris again took the ball by overpowering Aubrey Mendoza and sent a lob pass toward Kodama, who took on Monrovia’s defense. Her shot deflected off a defender and landed advantageously at Castro’s feet on the left side of the box and she gave Louisville a 2-0 lad.
In the first 10 minutes of the second half, Monrovia recorded four shots as it tried to cut the margin in half.
Berlynn Granier broke up a Monrovia breakaway in the 62nd minute. Those types of tackles and the discipline to boot the ball out of bounds or back into the Wildcats’ half helped keep the clean sheet.
“It was stellar in terms of how we defended,” Royals head coach Ariana Martinez said.
After Thursday’s practice — the final one before the championship game — Martinez gathered the players on the team and reminded them “this team is a family,” reiterating its history by bringing out former player Jessica Hyman. Hyman was a member of the last Louisville team to win a CIF championship, in 2001.
Martinez and Hyman said that “their cohesion defensively is what got them here” and it translated to Friday as the Royals stuck to the game plan, not getting discouraged as Monrovia consistently pressured their backline.
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