CORONA – Twelve years had passed since Santa Margarita last won a CIF title in girls soccer.
It took 80 minutes to erase that 12-year drought on Saturday night.
It wasn’t pretty, but the result was beautiful for the Eagles, who pulled ahead of Edison early and cruised the rest of the way to claim a CIF-SS championship with a 3-0 victory over the Chargers in the Division1 final at Corona High.
“It was worth the wait,” Santa Margarita coach Chuck Morales said. “I’ve had some tremendous teams, tremendous, certainly more skilled than this, more talented, but this group just never quit. That’s what I respect, that they never quit.
“You asked me, ‘Did I think they were going to go all the way?’ I didn’t think so, but they felt differently.”
Drama has been a big part of the Eagles’ past two wins, but Santa Margarita (15-3-4) put an end to all the intrigue pretty fast.
Maggie Ghotbi scored her second goal in the past two games when she headed in a corner kick to put her team ahead by a goal in the fourth minute.
In the 23rd minute, Edison interfered with Heather Walleigh as she raced down the field. The Eagles were awarded a penalty kick.
Taylor Klawunder delivered another goal to put the Chargers in a two-goal hole.
Edison lacked an offensive punch throughout the game, and that was understandable considering it was without star senior MacKenzie Cerda, who was out because of an injury she suffered in the semifinal against Foothill.
Without Cerda, the Chargers (12-6-4) didn’t have one senior on the field against Santa Margarita.
“The future is very bright, now that (the underclassmen) have seen what has to happen, they understand,” Edison coach Kerry Crooks said. “You don’t know until you’ve been there.”
The Eagles, who are a senior-heavy team, sat on their lead for much of the second half, but put the icing on the cake when Kassidy Gorman scored in the 77th minute to secure the title.
“It’s the most amazing moment, I’m overwhelmed,” Gorman said. “When the time went off (the clock), I’ve never been more happy in my entire life.”
Sophomore goalie Christina Kosmala, who had been a vital part of Santa Margarita’s trip to the final, didn’t face much opposition from the Chargers, but turned them away when she needed to.
Contact the writer: amorales@ocregister.com
