Christian Brothers tops Cardinal Newman to win CIF Northern California soccer championship
Members of the Christian Brothers soccer team kept shouting “it’s the treble,” and it made sense to them if not those new to the mantra.
The Falcons on Saturday night in Oak Park completed the trifecta — what they call the treble — of winning the Capital Athletic League, a Sac-Joaquin Section crown and now a CIF Northern California regional championship. They capped the greatest season in program history in a playoff run that included wet weather or biting cold winds or all of it at the same time.
The Falcons beat Cardinal Newman of Santa Rosa and the North Coast Section for the Division III crown, winning 5-4 on penalty kicks after a 1-1 regulation final. It was sunny in the first half, then chilly when the sun set at CB, which finished 20-4-3. Teams do not advance past this stage in California prep soccer.
This was the second straight penalty win for the Falcons, who squeezed out a 10-9 effort over Windsor in a semifinal. CB fell behind early as Cardinal Newman scored six minutes into the first half. The Falcons responded when senior forward Brooklyn Horst smashed a volley from the top of the box into the top right corner with 20 minutes remaining.
The Falcons were perfect from the mark scoring five out of five. Cardinal Newman could not match this with senior goalkeeper Grace Bettencourt saving the third kick with a dive to her right. Longtime CB coach Rudy Ruvalcaba was ecstatic. Visibly emotional after the game, Ruvalcaba hugged his players and shouted: “It’s the treble!”
“It’s so special to win this game.” Ruvalcaba said, “All we kept talking about this whole season was the desire to work hard. How good is your work ethic? That’s what I wanted my girls to come in and understand: if you work hard, you will get the rewards. And we got the reward tonight.”
Ruvalcaba said his group is more than just a team. It’s a tight-knit family. The bond they have is what pushed them to win this coveted treble, the coach said. Ruvalcaba said he is certain that every player who competed for him since he started coaching in 1987 knows that he supports them for life as a mentor, a coach and a friend. He said that former players have invited him to their weddings or to meet their kids. In his opinion, the bond his teams build is pivotal to their high level of play.
“I want to create an environment where we are together,” Ruvalcaba said. “That’s what makes us successful. That’s how we can get wins like we got today. We didn’t quit after one goal. No, we just kept fighting.”
How’d the Falcons celebrate after mobbing each other on the field turf? They went out to pizza.
Goal scorers in the penalty shootout for CB were Horst, Sarah Pritchard, Kamryn Lee, Rachel Davis and Lily Jensen. None of their shooters missed a shot. Horst said her team appreciated the efforts of their coach.
“It is so cool to go out in my senior year winning the treble,” Horst said. “I’ve played for Rudy all four years and I knew we would get one. He’s been such an awesome coach and I’ve loved playing with this team.”
Horst said she wants to play in college but isn’t sure where just yet. Senior Elizabeth Ledesma is committed to playing at Sacramento State while Peyton McDonald will play at Pacific University and Jensen at San Marcos.
In a season full of rain, CB’s newer turf held up fine. It has been a tough season for all schools in the torrential weather.
“It’s been rainy all year. Horrible,” Ruvalcaba said. “But I think it tests where you are, your character. Can you play through the adversity, the environment, and what can you do to adjust? And we adjusted every time. We just turned around, adjusted and played, and these girls just went out there and won.”
In other NorCal finals:
Mira Monte 1, Colfax 0: The No. 5 Lions of Bakersfield held off the No. 2 Falcons in D-IV play at Del Oro.
Angie Rodriguez had the goal, her 48th of the season in a showdown of prolific scorers. Colfax was led in scoring by sophomore Kaia Diederichs, who had 48 goals coming in but went down with a hamstring injury in this match as the Falcons finished 27-2-1. Mira Monte finished 28-2-3.
Davis 1, Clovis North 0: Simon Vaca-Lorenzi had a hat trick in leading the Blue Devils to a 4-0 win over Whitney for the section D-I championship and he kept on producing, including scoring the lone goal as Davis won the NorCal regional championship to cap a 22-0-2 season.
Clovis North of Fresno and the Central Section came in 26-0-1, ranked third in the state and fourth nationally by MaxPreps. Davis entered the match ranked second and third, respectively. Vaca-Lorenzi will play at Sacramento State next season. He led Davis in goals as the Blue Devils went 12-0 in the Delta League and 4-0 in the section playoffs before posting NorCal wins over Clayton Valley Charter of Concord, Monte Vista of Danville and Clovis North.
Bellarmine 4, Rio Americano 1: Seeded seventh, the Bells of San Jose and the Central Coast Section upset the No. 2 Raiders to win D-II NorCal honors on penalty kicks.
The Raiders (24-2) had a 23-match winning streak halted in suffering their first setback at home. Bellarmine finished 17-5-4.
This story was originally published March 5, 2023 at 5:00 AM.