San Clemente was cruising in its playoff opener Saturday until Etiwanda’s late goal tightened up the match. The Tritons hung tough, earning a 2-1 victory over the Eagles in the first round of the CIF-SS Div. I playoffs at San Clemente High.
The Tritons preceded to win the ensuing coin flip and host Long Beach Poly on Wednesday. Game time is scheduled for 3 p.m. but Coach Stacy Finnerty said she would like to move the game to 4 or 5. Call the high school Wednesday for details.
“We need to be playing quicker,” Finnerty said. “We had a ton of shots. We need to pick it up. My expectations are higher.”
The Tritons took the early lead over Etiwanda on Frannie Coxe’s goal less than five minutes in.
The Tritons held firm on defense, allowing few good looks for the Eagles and led 1-0 at halftime.
San Clemente struck first in the second half. Coxe, on a dribble attacked, was fouled inside the goalie box, earning the Tritons a penalty kick.
Barret Bestard connected on the shot to make it 2-0 with 29 minutes left.
Etiwanda was still struggling for clean looks when it gained a free kick at the 30 yard line. The Eagles sent the ball on a perfect line, the ball clearing a leaping Hannah Turpen to cut the lead to 2-1 with 16 minutes to play.
“We scored early and worked hard,” Finnerty said. “Etiwanda started to get physical and desperate and took us out of our game. We are going to fix that.”
Contact the writer: ctobolski@ocregister.com
