RIVERSIDE — There are goals in this Ramona side.
Kimberly Cifuentes’ hat trick highlighted a record night as Ramona’s girls soccer team rolled on with an 8-0 victory Tuesday night over Alliance Marine-Innovation & Technology of Sun Valley in a CIF State Division V regional quarterfinal match.
“We tell them, ‘Just play our game. It’s been working.’ So we’re not trying to change too much,” Ramona coach Noemy Castro said.
Emely Rodriguez, Daisy Corona and Cifuentes scored in a 3-minute span in the first half as Ramona (17-6-3) set season highs for first-half goals and goals in a match.
The Rams, the No. 1 seed in the Division V regional, will host No. 4 seed Clairemont of San Diego in a semifinal match Thursday.
“I see us going all the way but we’re not trying to be cocky. We’re trying to stay humble,” Cifuentes said.
Ramona, which claimed the CIF Southern Section Division 6 championship with a 2-0 victory over Carter last week, broke through on Tuesday in the 15th minute as Rodriguez’s header caught the AMIT goalkeeper going the other way and bounded into the net.
The Rams regained possession from the kickoff and attacked up the right side, with Cifuentes whipping a cross into Corona for a second goal just 43 seconds after the opener.
“It took us a little while to adjust but once we did we got the job done,” said Cifuentes, who scored the game-winner in the section final.
Empowered to go for more, Ramona amped up the pressure, earned a corner kick and Cifuentes applied the finish for a 3-0 in the 18th minute.
Cifuentes scored on a second chance put-back in the 21st minute, and Kimberly Javier-Campus scored a minute later to make it 5-0 before halftime.
Nyomi Rivas netted a penalty in the first five minutes of the second half, Cifuentes completed her hat trick with a clean strike in the 65th minute, and a late goal from Kyrah Souza finished the scoring.
AMIT (14-2-3) did not produce a shot on goal until the second half in losing for the first time since a 6-2 defeat to North Hollywood on Feb. 2.
The L.A. City Section Division V champion, AMIT had a free kick early in the second half saved by Ramona backup goalkeeper Marianna Osuna, who came on in the second half and made two saves as the Rams recorded their fourth consecutive shutout and fifth of the postseason.
