Sports
Tritons' Girls Headed to Championships After Edging Eagles on Penalty Kicks
Kaminski's penalty kick gives San Clemente 4-2 advantage and that's enough to win the Division 1 semifinal, which had been tied, 2-2, after regulation and overtime.
It was a clash of Orange County girls soccer behemoths, and, by the end, there was no question that it had lived up to the billing.
Claiming a thrilling 4-2 (2-2) victory at the end of two overtimes and nine penalty kicks, the San Clemente Tritons inked their name in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 finals Tuesday afternoon at Santa Margarita High.
Madison Kaminski booted the game-winner on San Clemente's fifth penalty kick after two Santa Margarita misses and consecutive winners by Natalie Higgins and Alex Resinger had set up Kaminski to be the hero with a 3-2 advantage.
"It feels ridiculously amazing," said San Clemente goalkeeper Sheridan Hapsic, who collected six saves. "[Santa Margarita] shut us out 3-0 in [nonleague] and we knew coming in it was going to be a really hard game. But we managed to pull it through. I'm so proud of my team."
Santa Margarita goalkeeper Haley Guerrero blocked San Clemente's second penalty-kick attempt, her 14th and final save on a busy day for the Eagles' keeper in which the Tritons took 11 shots in both the first and second halves and tacked on three more in overtime.
Mikaela Carillo scored to make it 1-1 in the first half after a San Clemente inbounds from the right wing made it through to the left side of the box, where Carillo had pushed up from the backfield. After the Eagles failed to clear it, Carillo had an open look and took the shot, drilling a near-post screamer that Guerrero had no shot at.
The goal came 24 minutes after Sami Trenary had made it 1-0, Eagles, in the 7th minute on a header from 10 yards out after Leigh Edwards found her on a cross that developed off a corner setpiece the Eagles played short to Lauren Bohaboy.
The Eagles wound up scoring on their first shots of both halves, as Taylor Krebs scored in the first minute of the second after Edwards took the opening kickoff to the box and lofted a beautiful one-timer that careened off the crossbar and toward the waiting feet of her fellow wing forward.
"At all times. At all times. It was ridiculous," Hapsic answered when asked to assess the Eagles' offensive pressure. "Every second you turn around, they're coming down your throat. But our team handled it so well."
While Santa Margarita took advantage of its limited opportunities, scoring twice on only eight shots in regulation, the Tritons game plan was to push hard on the offensive end and put up as many shots as possible.
Six minutes after Krebs scored, San Clemente's Danielle Mellem answered with a little help from Frannie Coxe, who delivered a perfectly-timed cross to Farris at 15 yards out. Tessa Andujar started the play at midfield by stealing possession and delievering the through to Coxe.
"[Our offensive pressure] started off a little slow, but once we got it, that was how we avoided some of their strengths, to just put high pressure on them in the attack," San Clemente coach Stacey Finnerty said. "We double-teamed [Bohaboy]. You have to. And it hurt because it took away a little from our middle. But because of that pressure on her, we were allowed to play. She is amazing. Almost unstoppable. So we had to contain her."
And even though the Tritons did an admirable job of limiting Bohaboy's opportunities, Santa Margarita's star striker came within inches of ending it with just a minute left in regulation, when her free kick from 35 yards out kissed the crossbar.
"We struck. They struck. We struck. They struck. It was one of those games. I think it's probably up there with one of the two greatest games I've had here," Santa Margarita coach Chuck Morales said. "I'm not sad. Maybe later, after I leave, I'll be like, 'Geeze.' But you know what? We left it all on the table. What a great spectacle. For both sides. The emotional highs and lows. For me, they can't pay me for this."
The Tritons (19-2-7), champions of the South Coast League, will gear up for the section championship match against third-seeded Flintridge Sacred Heart (21-1-1) on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Mission Viejo High.
With the loss, Santa Margarita (24-5-2), champions of the Trinity League, will say goodbye to an extremely talented senior class, which includes six players headed off to play NCAA Division I soccer: Bohaboy (Notre Dame), Edwards (Texas A&M), Krebs (Boston University), Guerrero (UC Santa Barbara), Anastasia Gillen (Brown) and Mackenzie Cochrane (Fresno State).
