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Hawks finish in second place at home tourney
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Central Valley High School's varsity girls soccer program hasn't tasted much success during its brief history.

Spurred on by past failures, the Hawks won two of three games on Saturday en route to a second-place finish at their home tournament. Central Valley took fifth last season.

"They worked hard for it," said Cyndi Meshach, the Hawks' third different head coach since 2007. "They earned it."

Merced defeated Central Valley 4-1 in the championship game.

Anabel Vazquez scored in the second half for the Hawks. Goalkeeper Ashley Lerma made four saves.

"We dominated the first 10 minutes, then ran out of energy," Meshach said. "They were big, strong and fast. It was a challenge."

The Hawks clinched a 4-3 penalty shootout victory over Calaveras after a 1-1 draw in the semifinals.

Vazquez, Lizette Covarrubias, Alyssa Meshach and Cassandra Martinez converted penalty kicks for Central Valley.

The Hawks overcame a 2-0 deficit in regulation as Meshach scored twice.

Lerma totaled four saves during the game.

Central Valley opened the tournament with a 4-0 win against Denair.

Simi Talawan tallied a hat trick for the Hawks. Vazquez added two assists. Lerma had two saves.

Central Valley (3-3-2) will host Summerville in non-conference play today at 4 p.m. The Hawks will surpass last year's overall win total with a victory.

"There's a huge trust thing that I haven't seen in them the last few years," Meshach said. "They believe in each other."