Girls’ soccer: Locke ready to graduate to the big time

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Locke’s 4-0 victory over Manual Arts on Friday was the 10th straight win for the Saints. They have clinched a fourth consecutive Coliseum League championship, and have one of the City’s top scorers in senior striker Mayra Garcia, who has 26 goals.

But Locke (11-1-1, 9-0-1), which won’t know its playoff seeding until next week, doesn’t want to be a ‘nice little story’ about an inner-city school trying to compete with the strong Valley and East L.A. teams. Garcia and the other six seniors, who have been with Coach Morris Phillips the last four years, hope to make a legitimate run at the City Section championship.

They will have to figure out how to get past Granada Hills, should the teams meet in the playoffs. The Highlanders beat Locke in the semifinals two years ago, and eliminated the Saints in the quarterfinals last year.

Phillips believes this is his best team.

‘Our goal is the finals,’ Phillips said. ‘But no matter what, we want to play hard, leave it on the field, and have people know who we are.’

-- Mike Terry

- Image from www.studentguideusa.com