St. Margaret's Girls Win Shootout to Advance to Soccer Title Match

St. Margaret’s girls soccer team has been fairly dominant so far in this year’s CIF Southern Section Division 6 playoffs. The Tartans outscored their first three opponents by a combined score of 17-2.  So when they scored on Ocean View in the fifth minute to take a 1-0 lead, it would have been easy to assume they would again roll to a comfortable victory.

But after losing in the semifinals three years in a row, the Tartans were not about to take any opponent in the semifinals lightly. The Seahawks would regain their composure and get just enough pressure on the Tartans to tie the score in the 22nd minute and proceed to give St. Margaret’s all they could handle.

But after three unsuccessful tries at reaching the title game, this year’s St. Margaret’s team wasn’t going to be denied. It took a penalty kick shootout, but the Tartans eventually prevailed, 4-1 in the shootout, to advance to the CIF-SS finals this weekend. The Tartans made all four of the penalty shots they attempted, while the Seahawks had one go high and another get stopped by goalkeeper Michelle Lancaster. So when McKenna Marmelstein buried the fourth attempt inside the left post, the Tartans were able to celebrate.

“It feels better to win than to lose, let me tell you that," senior captain Olivia Collins said. "This was the year, we could feel it, this was our year,”

In the shootout, junior midfielder McCaully Patch got the Tartans started with a low shot to the right side to put them up 1-0. After Ocean View’s first attempt went high, Donahue put the Tartans up 2-0 with a shot inside the left post. After Ocean View’s second attempt was blocked by Lancaster, Barbaresi made it 3-0, with a shot to the top center.

Ocean View finished as runner-up in the Golden West League and the Tartans had faced the Seahawks earlier in the season, defeating them, 4-0. But St. Margaret’s coach John Marmelstein said they knew the Seahawks could be dangerous and they did not underestimate or overlook them in the slightest.

“Give them credit for playing us tough," Marmelstein said. "They were very tough.”

The Tartans caught the Seahawks off guard early when they started a rush up the left side in the fifth minute. A centering pass found junior forward Katie Donahue in space at the top of the goal box. Donahue dribbled to her left to find a shooting lane and fired a low, left-footed shot past the keeper and into the left side of the net to give the Tartans a 1-0 lead.

But the Seahawks bounced back 17 minutes later when a forward pass caused some confusion for the Tartan defense. Three defenders and Lancaster converged on the ball is it came to the top of the box. After a collision of several players, the ball bounced out in front, where Seahawk forward Raquel Thomas was able to tap a rolling shot into an open net.

But while the Tartans may have been momentarily rattled by the Seahawk attack, they soon regained their composure and began putting pressure back on Ocean View. A few minutes after the Seahawks' goal, Tartan senior forward Madison Glaser got free at the top of the goal box for a solid shot, but it was saved by the goalkeeper.

Freshman forward Alexa Barbaresi also had a couple of solid rushes up the sideline, but crossing attempts were thwarted by Ocean View's defense. Despite the chances, the Tartans could not break the Seahawks' defense. The St. Margaret’s defense, though, had also stiffened and the Seahawks were kept back on their heels.

“We defend as a team and we go forward as a team too,” Lancaster said.

The Tartans will play San Dimas, a 3-1 winner over Hemet in the other semifinal, or the Division 6 championship on Friday at 5 p.m. at Mission Viejo High.