Vikings girls soccer make school history!
The Holtville Vikings advance to the CIF Division championship game for the first time in program history
HOLTVILLE, Calif. ( KYMA, KECY-TV ) - In 2020, the Holtville Vikings had a dream playoff run. Seeded #5 in the CIF San Diego Division V playoffs, the Vikings knocked off the #1 seed in their opening round game.
"Once that happened, I think the team thought it would be a breeze from there," Vikings head coach Sadie Ming said.
In fact it was just the opposite, the Vikings would fall in the semi-finals despite outshooting their opponent.
"They had like 20 shots on net and nothing would go in," Holtville Athletic Director C.J. Johnston said.
The semi-finals is as far as Holtville has ever advanced.
This year, the Vikings returned but as the #1 seed. The Vikings escaped a scare for the 8 seed Morse Tigers with a 3-2 overtime win. Setting up a semi-final match with 4 seed Chula Vista Learning Community Charter.
The teams battled to a scoreless tie into halftime. The Cobras of Chula Vista LCC had numerous opportunities to score. Holtville finally broke the scoreless tie with just under 33 minutes left to play on a goal by Amanda Strahm.
"I got lucky," Strahm said. "The goalie was out of her box and I just took the shot."
The Cobras were bitten by missed opportunities and numerous shots off and over the goal. Holtville knows all too well what that feels like. The night would belong to Holtville. As the time expired, the Vikings celebrated and in the process, made program history.
"I'm super proud," Ming said. "This was, coming from a small school in the valley, I know that what our girls struggle with a lot is, as a small school from the valley, not going into these games feeling like they can win. I think what they are proving to themselves tonight is that they can do this."
The stigma has always been that the valley teams can't compete with the San Diego area teams. The Vikings put that notion to rest and now advance to the championship game on Friday, May 28th against the 7th seed Orange Glen Patriots at 4:30 p.m. at Eastlake High School in Escondido.
