Champions At Last: Flintridge Sacred Heart Tops San Clemente 1-0 in Division I Final

After defeating all five of its Orange Country opponents this season, including sixth-ranked Tesoso in the quarterfinals and second-ranked Esperanza in the semifinals, Flintridge Sacred Heart co-coach Kathy Desmond was asked before the championship match Friday night whether she believed the Tologs were a team of destiny.

“Every team can say they are a team of destiny, so I don’t know if I want to say that,” she said. “We’ll have to wait and see.”

The wait is over, and once again the Tologs have slayed another O.C. Goliath.

Flintridge Sacred Heart, with an enrollment of 400, took on mighty San Clemente, the top-ranked team in Division 1 with five CIF championships in the past 11 years and four consecutive appearances in the finals. And with one swift kick by Krista Meaglia in the 69^th minute, the Tologs girls soccer team made history by winning their first CIF-Southern Section title in their 17-year history, defeating the Tritons 1-0 in the CIF-SS Division I Championship at Mission Viejo High.

No. 3 Flintridge Sacred Heart (21-1-1) won its ninth straight game of the season, outscoring its opponents 10-2. That includes a second round victory over Aliso Niguel in penalty kicks, and a 1-0 overtime victory over defending Division 1 champion Esperanza in the semifinals.

San Clemente (19-3-7) had not lost a game since Dec. 29 and had been undefeated in its last 15 games.

“I’m feeling pretty good,” said Tologs co-coach Frank Pace as he watched his players celebrate on the field. “It’s an amazing achievement. I don’t know that a school with 400 kids has ever won a CIF title in any sport.”

The winning goal came almost unexpectedly. San Clemente had just missed scoring on a free kick from the 23-yard-line following a hand ball by Flintridge Sacred Heart. The Tologs moved the ball methodically downfield when Jillian Jacobs passed to Katie Johnson in the middle and Johnson found Meaglia alone on the right side. Meaglia’s shot found the lower left corner of the net past Tritons goalkeeper Sheridan Hapsic, and suddenly Flintridge Sacred Heart had the lead.

It was only the fourth shot on goal of the game for the Tologs, who didn’t get their first until the 66^thminute. Pace and Desmond made a couple of slight adjustments on defense at halftime that freed up their offense and gave them the confidence they could not only compete with San Clemente, but they could score.

“(Our players) came off the field after surviving the first 10 minutes and said, ‘We’ve got them,’ ” Desmond said.

“We pushed three people up at sweeper and that created more space for Katie. She played one of her better games,” Pace said. “After a three-hour drive we were tight and it took us awhile to adjust to the speed of play. (San Clemente) is good and quite confident. It really was a home game for them.”

San Clemente dominated the first half, pushing the ball into the Tologs end of the field and outshooting FSHA, 9-3.

But Frannie Coxe, making her fourth straight appearance in a Division I final, had a frustrating night. First her header attempt was blocked by a Tologs defender, then she hit the crossbar just six minutes into the match. In the second half, Coxe did not have a shot attempt and barely had the ball after being moved to forward from her usual midfield position.

Still, the Tritons had two great chances to score in the final minute. But Janae Cousineau missed from close range, and Dani Weatherhold missed on her attempted header on a throw-in by Marlee Carrillo with 10 seconds remaining.

“I think we had a great couple of chances, but at the end of the day we should have take care of business and we didn’t,” Tritons coach Stacey Finnerty said. “I think we panicked at the end. I almost wished (the goal) had happened at the beginning of the game so we had time to recover.”

Finnerty said there was little she could say to her team after the game. Most of the players were in tears.

“I told them that one game doesn’t define you,” she said. “We had a great season and a lot of great memories. They should be proud of what we accomplished.”

Flintridge Sacred Heart goalkeeper Lindsey Espe, who lost her starting position at midseason, started just her second game after Sami Dier broke her wrist against Tesoro and finished with six saves. The Tritons’ Hapsic had two saves.