After three losses to start Foothill League play, Valencia Vikings girls’ soccer is back on track at the midway point of the season.  Playing in their final first-half league game on Thursday, the Vikings dominated at their own Dr. Paul A. Priesz Stadium at Valencia High School with an 8-0 win over Golden Valley to increase their winning streak to six games.  Junior Taya Pickup led the way with a hat trick, scoring twice in the first half and once in the second half. The final goal was a free kick from about 30 yards out and, as Valencia (7-4, 3-3) coach Brian Miller put it, was “worthy of a hat trick.”  “It was a nice goal to score the hat trick on,” Miller said.  Valencia forward Sienna Darland (27) fights for the ball along the sideline against Golden Valley’s Isabella Ruiz at Valencia High School on Thursday, Jan. 9. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal Pickup picked up the second goal of the game after sophomore Andrea Maya was able to burst out of the back line and play her teammate through on goal. Pickup got her second late in the first half after senior Ella Kirschner created space on the left wing to cross in for a tap-in goal before Pickup sealed the hat trick late in the second half with her free kick.  “It was a full complement, almost,” Miller said. “She just needed to head one in.”  Kirschner opened the scoring at the midway point of the first half before turning creator for much of the rest of the game. Miller said Kirschner typically plays on the wing but was given the central striker role and did well to move across the front line.  “We don’t want her to be static and stay still, so she was moving around a lot,” Miller said.  Valencia forward Ella Kirschner (6) scores a goal during the second half of the game against Golden Valley at Valencia High School on Thursday, Jan. 9. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal Sophomore Sienna Darland added two goals in a matter of minutes late in the second half.   Junior Alyssa Owens showcased her speed throughout the second half, running rampant down the left wing and using that advantage to make it 4-0 ten minutes into the second half.  “It’s like any player — you use what you’ve got and use your strengths, and she did that,” Miller said.  Junior Sasha Vera scored the last goal in the final minutes of the game.  “We played well today,” Miller said. “We never take any team for granted, and we always try to play our game and, you know, keep good habits. I think sometimes, if you’re winning (big), everybody can be trying to score and dribbling through and stuff, but I stressed at halftime that we want to keep good habits, both attacking and defending.”  Golden Valley’s Aubrey Esqueda (5) dribbles the ball during the first half of the game against Valencia at Valencia High School on Thursday, Jan. 9. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal Golden Valley (10-9-1, 0-4-1) is in a bit of a rough patch after seeing three starters get injured in recent weeks, and two more Grizzlies came out of Thursday’s game with injuries. Head coach Teresa Cisneros said it’s hard to keep momentum — the Grizzlies were on a seven-game unbeaten streak before their current three-game losing skid — with players constantly missing and having to be moved around the field.  “Just trying to keep the morale up right now,” Cisneros said. “I know we can compete with more of these teams. It was a little rough today.”  Valencia has its first league bye on Tuesday before taking on Hart on the road next Thursday.  Valencia forward Alyssa Owens (20) shoots the ball during the second half of the game against Golden Valley at Valencia High School on Thursday, Jan. 9. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal Golden Valley is set to host West Ranch on Tuesday.  Here’s what else happened in Foothill League action on Thursday:  Girls’ soccer  Hart 5, West Ranch 0: The Hart Hawks (7-5-1, 5-0) stayed on top of the league with a 5-0 home win over West Ranch (2-5-2, 1-4).  Kelly Wieckowski scored a hat trick for Hart while Gianna Costello had two goals. Makenna Herrick recorded two assists, while Adrielle Salvador, Julia Willis and Kyla Bennet had one each.  Castaic 3, Canyon 0: The Castaic Coyotes (7-4, 4-1) kept their third-place spot in the league standings with a 3-0 home win over Canyon (2-5-2, 0-4-1).  Pyper Ormes scored twice for Castaic and Morgan Griffy added one.  Golden Valley’s Ava Eilola (23) fights for the ball against Valencia defender Bailey Haydamack (19) during the first half of the game at Valencia High School on Thursday, Jan. 9. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal Boys’ soccer  Hart 3, West Ranch 1: Another matchday, another win for the Hart Hawks (8-1, 5-0), who took down West Ranch (5-3-3, 2-1-2) on the road Thursday, 3-1.  Justin Assadi, Claudio Navarrete and Eduardo Núñez got the goals for Hart.  Logan Sanchez scored for West Ranch, on an assist from Adam Lopez.  Canyon 2, Castaic 0: The Canyon Cowboys (3-7-1, 1-3-1) got back to winning ways with a 2-0 home win over Castaic (0-7-1, 0-4-1).  Johnathan Ortiz and Gabriel Roque scored to help Canyon end its streak of three games without a win. Robert Mora assisted on both goals while Kyle Mora had five saves to keep a clean sheet.  Valencia 2, Golden Valley 1: The Valencia Vikings (4-3-1, 2-3-1) secured a 2-1 road win at Golden Valley (4-5-2, 2-2-1).  Paolo Salmeron opened the scoring for Valencia. Diego Jovel got the second goal on an assist from Matthew Juarez.  The post Valencia girls’ soccer stays hot, extends winning streak to six  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.