St. Margaret's Loses to Flintridge Sacred Heart, 3-0, in Girls Soccer Semifinal

The St. Margaret’s High's girls soccer team was fully aware of what it was up against Thursday afternoon when it faced Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, ESPN/Rise Magazine's top-ranked team in the nation, in the Division III semifinals of the CIF Southern California Regional Championships.

The Tartans, winners of the CIF Southern Section Division 6 champions, came out in a zone defense that made operating difficult for the Tologs, who won the section's Division I title.

But St. Margaret’s could hold the top-seeded Tologs for only so long.  Flintridge Sacred Heart eventually broke the deadlock and went on to a 3-0 victory at Occidental College in Eagle Rock to advance to the final Saturday.

“We were hoping that we would hold them. Our strategy was to play a little pressure [defense],” said St. Margaret’s coach Johnny Marmelstein, adding that his team's goal was to hold the Tologs to no more than a one-goal advantage going into halftime.

“When we got down 2-0, we came out of it a little bit," he said. "But they were organized in the back. We had some opportunities. It was a little unfortunate that we couldn’t get outside of [left back Katelyn Almeida]. She was great.”

Flintridge Sacred Heart (23-1-1) will face third-seeded Oaks Christian (25-2-1) of Westlake Village, which defeated The Bishop’s of La Jolla, 3-0, in the other semifinal.

The game will be played Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at Warren High in Downey.

Flintridge Sacred Heart co-coach Frank Pace said he expected to see the visiting Tartans play tough defense.

“It was a bunker defense,” Pace said. “That’s what it’s called when you put 11 people behind the ball and shut down the middle. It was a very smart coaching strategy. He came here and tried to shorten the game. He tried to make it into a 40-minute game and [force] us into a mistake.”

Flintridge Sacred Heart broke the scoreless tie in the 34^th minute when Katie Johnson chested down a ball at the edge of the goal box and left it for Breeana Koemans, who placed it in the left corner to beat goalkeeper Michelle Lancaster.

The Tologs doubled their lead in the 38^th minute when Alyssa Conti took a one-touch shot with her right foot from the left side of the goal box that curved into the right corner of the goal, stunning Lancaster.

“I’m used to bending the ball. I do that on corner kicks,” Conti said. “When I was younger, that’s how the coaches taught me to do it and they said ‘You’re going to thank me later for doing this.. It was a great goal.”

St. Margaret’s (26-3-1) had its best chances on set pieces. But two free kicks by McCaully Patch went over the goal.

The Tologs added an extra goal for insurance in the 72^nd minute as Johnson fed Krista Meaglia on the right side, who crossed the ball to Koemans, who was able to put a fly ball past Lancaster.