Girls Soccer:
The year 2024 has been very kind to Amara Mercado.
The soon-to-be Monrovia High School senior has been a key contributor over the last three years for the MHS soccer program.
In this past season (2023-24), the Wildcats center back played a significant role in Monrovia securing an outright Rio Hondo League title.
More important, though, Mercado and her teammates earned their first CIF-SS title-game appearance in 18 years.
In the CIF-SS Division 4 playoffs, Monrovia defeated Los Altos (2-1), Costa Mesa (1-0) and Ocean View (2-1).
MHS moved on to the finals after tying St. Genevieve 1-1, but winning on penalty kicks, 4-2.
The Wildcats fell just shy of a D-4 title after dropping a 2-0 decision to a Louisville team (25-3) that secured both CIF-SS D-4 and CIF State D-4 titles.
Monrovia, however, rebounded and showed their mettle.
Four days after its CIF-SS D-4 title-game loss, the Wildcats defeated Campbell Hall, 4-0, in the first round of the CIF-State D-4 state playoffs.
Unfortunately, their magical season came to an end in the semifinal round of the CIF State D-4 semifinals, as Louisville edged MHS, 1-0.
That gets us to this summer.
Mercado plays for the U17 girls Legends FC Elite Clubs National League program out of Eastvale.
The Legends played in the West Regional in June, and they were one of two teams from the region to advance to the Final 8 in Richmond, Virginia.
In the West Regional, they faced off with a program from Oregon, Sacramento and two Orange County teams.
As Mercado made the trip across the country to Virginia for the Final 8, she almost certainly had to have her father, Kevin Mercado, somewhere in the back of her mind.
Mercado works full time as a teacher and director of the Sports Medicine Pathway Program at Monrovia.
In July of 1992, Kevin Mercado and his boys secured a U16 national championship for the North Huntington Beach Futbol Club.
In the title game, Mercado broke up a 0-0 tie with a goal in the 23rd minute.
And the NHBSC would go on to defeat the Pittsburgh Strikers, 3-0.
Fast forward 32 years, and Kevin Mercado was on hand to watch his daughter make history of her own.
Amara and her teammates didn’t just win a national championship, they steamrolled their competition.
The Legends outscored FC Wichita (4-0), FC Copa Academy (5-1) and Albion (3-0) by a combined margin of 12-1.
To say dad was proud would be quite the understatement.
A few interesting side notes:
Kevin and Amara won championships in the same city, and they did so just before beginning their senior years in high school.
Mercado put together this video highlight reel of the Legends title run.
2024 Monrovia Playoff Run:
2/8: Monrovia 2, Los Altos 1
2/10: Monrovia 1, Costa Mesa 0
2/14: Monrovia 2, Ocean View 1
2/17: Monrovia 1, St. Genevieve 1 (advanced on penalty kicks)
2/23: Louisville 2, Monrovia 0
2/27: Monrovia 4, Campbell Hall 0
2/29: Louisville 1, Monrovia 0
Legends FC ECNL-RL National Tournament Scores:
July 11: Legends FC 4, FC Wichita (Kansas) 0
July 12: Legends FC 5, FC Copa Academy (New Jersey) 1
July 14: Legends FC 3, Albion (Texas) 0
Photos by Underrated Media Girls Basketball: Flintridge Prep didn’t just secure a Bonita Tip-Off Classic title. The Wolves dominated their way to the crown. FP defeated Cajon, Claremont, Los Osos and Rialto by a combined margin of 243-147. On Saturday night, Prep and Rialto were locked in an 18-18 tie at the break. The Wolves, […]
Girls Basketball: Glendora finished third at the La Mirada Tournament. GHS claimed consecutive victories over Millikan (50-28) and Anaheim (57-26) before falling to Crean Lutheran (44-33) in Friday’s semifinal. On Saturday, the Tartans defeated Loara, 52-24, and they improved to 3-1. Reagan Herrmann had a game-high 14 points to go with her 10 rebounds. Brianna […]
Girls Basketball: It doesn’t get much closer than this. La Salle hosted Pasadena on Saturday evening. And the Bulldogs gave the Lancers all they could handle. However, La Salle was able to edge PHS, 47-44. PHS and LSHS matched each other in scoring in the second (11-11), third (15-15) and fourth quarters (10-10). But a […]
Boys Basketball: Damien has earned itself a spot in the Sunny Hills Basketball Tournament. After victories over Troy (80-41), Ontario Christian (68-39), Villa Park (70-42), the Spartans faced La Habra in a semifinal round contest. The writing was on the wall early, as DHS outscored LHHS, 17-0, in the first quarter, and they would cruise […]
Girls Athlete of the Week: What a week it was for the West Covina High School girls water polo program. The Bulldogs played four games in five days. WCHS defeated La Mirada (15-13), Pasadena (10-5) and Cerritos (15-4) before falling on Friday, 14-6, at the hands of St. Lucy’s. Over that stretch, WCHS junior Deneli […]
Pictured L-R: Nate Penunuri & Nate Curtis Boys Athletes of the Week: Noah Penunuri and Nate Curtis, the 2023 Football Players of the Year for this site, are up to their old tricks in 2024. During much of the regular season, the Kares blew opponents out, and that meant Penunuri and Curtis saw limited touches, […]
Photos and game info from Ryan Tomey Football: St. Francis’ quest for a CIF-SS Division 6 championship was thwarted by their visitors from Murrieta Mesa. The Rams found themselves in an 11-point hole in the first quarter at Jim Bonds Stadium. However, MMHS was able to edge SFHS, 31-28, after outscoring the Golden Knights, 28-14, […]
Thanks to Harry Joe for the game info/stats, Tim Lunney for the photos, & David Guerrero for the game highlight video Football: It might sound like a broken record. However, to borrow lyrics from the great Canadian rock band, Rush, “a fact’s a fact from Nome to Rome.” And the fact is that Rio Hondo […]
Photos by Carlo Montalbo (@Carlo.Montalbo on Instagram) Football: After the past two wins, you couldn’t blame Glendora or their fans if they believe in destiny. The Tartans opened with a 31-7 blowout victory at Agoura in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 6 playoffs. However, over the past two weeks, the Tartans have dug […]
