St. Margaret's Defense Stifles San Dimas, 2-0, in CIF Title Victory

There isn’t a girls soccer team in Orange County with more momentum than St. Margaret’s, which now owns a county-best 24 match unbeaten streak. The latest triumph of the tremendous run earned the Tartans the CIF Southern Section Division 6 title on Friday evening at Mission Viejo Stadium.

St. Margaret’s (25-2-1) defense denied San Dimas (20-3-2) throughout the championship game, stifling the Saints on the way to a 2-0 victory. The top-seeded Tartans, who’ve surrendered only 14 goals in 28 contests, held San Dimas to four total shots and only one in the final 40 minutes.

“The defensive effort was exactly what we asked for,” St. Margaret’s coach Johnny Marmelstein said. “We bend but don’t break and just would not give up. [San Dimas] had a few chances at different points, but the defense held up.”

The Saints, who appeared in their first title match, dominated the playoff field before their meeting with St. Margaret’s. San Dimas outscored postseason opponents 17-2, using exceptional speed on the outside to blow past second-seeded Hemet, 3-1, in the semifinal.

St. Margaret’s preparation revolved around bottling up the speedy Saints and forcing them toward the muddled center of the pitch, according to standout junior forward Katie Donahue.

“We played defense as a unit and worked toward a common goal,” Donahue said. “Our focus was to push [San Dimas] toward the middle and contain their speed by preventing them from reaching the sideline. The game plan worked out and it paid off for us.”

Marmelstein, who saw his team fall in the semifinals during each of the past three seasons, orchestrated a substantial defensive change before the match. The coach opted to start the game with defender Kelsey Patch on the bench and leading scorer Alexa Barbaresi in Patch’s place in the defensive backfield.

“Kelsey started the first 27 games for us and here, in the 28th game, I asked her to sit,” Marmelstein said. “San Dimas has a lot of speed and she’s had a bad ankle, so I asked her if she’d be willing to step aside and she told me she wanted to do what’s best for the team. When you have kids that are that unselfish, it makes a team much stronger.”

Patch, a sophomore, has been hobbled by the ankle injury lately. On her hand, the word “sacrifice” was written in marker.

“Alexa is an amazing player and I totally trusted her back there,” junior midfielder McCaully Patch said. “She’s an all-around athlete who has a lot of skills and we knew she’d step up on defense.”

The Tartans grabbed a pivotal 1-0 advantage in the 27th minute of the first half. Alexa Barbaresi, a freshman, sent a spectacular centering pass from the left of Saints goalkeeper Rachel Jones. The crisp feed found the right foot of Regan Anderson, who beat Jones high for the go-ahead goal.

Anderson came off the bench to put home her second goal in three games. The score put San Dimas in the unenviable position of playing uphill against St. Margaret’s accomplished defensive unit.

“Regan has a determination like none other,” Patch said. “She’ll play great under any situation and when she scored our first goal, I was so proud of her. She’s a great teammate and deserves it.”

The second half began with a somewhat different approach by the Tartans, who became extremely selective when it came to opening things up and unleashing counter attacks. Protecting the slight advantage and finishing strong defensively was first and foremost on Marmelstein’s mind.

Midway through the half, sophomore Allie Frost extended the advantage to two goals and put the title on ice. Freshman Madison Glaser drove into Saints territory before uncorking a dump pass downfield.

After bouncing off a couple players on both sides, the ball trickled behind the San Dimas defense, where Frost found herself in the clear and buried the dagger with a point-blank score.

“That second goal was huge,” Patch said. “It gave us a lot of security. We looked around the field and knew we just had to hold on for 20 more minutes for the win.”

Despite being a young group (St. Margaret’s roster features only three seniors), the Tartans remained steadfast till the final horn. The Saints struggled to find any chinks in St. Margaret’s defensive armor.

“I think the team was more poised than I was at times because there were times I got a little too excited,” Marmelstein said with a grin. “These girls have gained experience and fight hard for each other. On top of being phenomenal soccer players, they’re blue-collar kids.”