"The girls really came together, they were really nervous," Rosen said. "It was unexpected that he wasn't going to be here. They were ready to win, they were on their toes and they were anxious. They wanted to prove they could do it without him here."
La Cañada goalie Haley Austin, who finished with five saves, is happy Bilowitz will receive some good news.
"It was quite sad and a little nerve wracking [without Bilowitz] because Anya hasn't coached us before," Austin said. "It's going to be exciting to tell Louie we won a game and we're going to keep playing so he can see us play again."
The win puts La Cañada on the road at top-seeded Hemet Friday at 3 p.m. after it beat Garden Grove, 6-1, Wednesday.
"Hemet was obviously first place last year and Garden Grove is pretty good," Austin said. "I think this means we have to leave school at 11 a.m. on Friday so you know, I'm not going to complain."
Ragusa's goal put the finishing touch on a game La Cañada (13-2-4) had been dominating, but was unable to finish.
"It was really great and it was a beautiful goal — it wasn't a fluke — it came off some really good passing," Rosen said. "The team was obviously finding their groove. It took them a while, but it felt really nice to have the goal finally."
The Spartans held a 22-10 shot advantage over the Seahawks (19-6-1) and had two shots go off the post in the first half before finally getting in front on Ragusa's bending right-to-left shot from the middle of the box in the 55th minute.
"It was the best feeling I've ever had," Ragusa said. "I just wait for that feeling, I loved it."
The buildup began when La Cañada sophomore defender Taylor Afshar stole a ball at midfield and began a counter-attack with a pass down the middle of the field to streaking senior captain Morgan Rittichier.
