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San Clemente slips past CdM to reach semifinals
Tritons will battle Santa Margarita on Tuesday.
SAN CLEMENTE - San Clemente sophomore Danielle Mellem had a vision that when she entered Thursday’s playoff match against Corona del Mar, she would have to make a big play.
That vision not only turned into reality, but propelled the Tritons to the brink of another appearance in the CIF-SS Division 1 title game.
Mellem scored the winning goal in the second half, and the Tritons outlasted Corona del Mar, 1-0, in the quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs at San Clemente High.
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“I imagined in my head that I had to come off the bench and score,” Mellem said. “To do that is the best feeling in the world.”
San Clemente (18-2-7) has won seven consecutive matches, outscoring is opponents 24-0 during that stretch.
The Tritons will attempt to advance to their fourth consecutive championship match Tuesday afternoon when they travel to Santa Margarita for the semifinals.
“Today was a perfect example of how important our bench is,” Tritons coach Stacey Finnerty said. “When you come off the bench, you have to be a game-changer, and Mellem was just composed, smart, and did that for us.”
Despite maintaining possession in the attacking third throughout the first half and outshooting Corona del Mar, 10-1, San Clemente was unable to capitalize.
Senior Frannie Coxe nearly gave the Tritons the lead late in the half, but her shot banged off the crossbar and away from the goal. Sea Kings senior goalie Lindsey Luke also had a big hand in keeping the match score less, producing five of her 10 saves in the half.
Corona del Mar’s only shot of the half nearly gave them the lead in the 37th minute. Off a free kick by junior Sydney Raguse, sophomore Annie Alvarado managed to get off a line drive shot that was saved on a fully extended dive by Tritons senior goalie Sheridan Hapsic.
San Clemente appeared to go ahead less than 10 minutes into half. Off a wild scrum in front of the goal that saw numerous players fall to the ground in an effort to get control of a loose ball, junior Dani Weatherholt managed to get a shot off that hit Sea Kings junior defender Amanda Stephenson as she stood over the goal line.
The play was allowed to continue and Luke made the save while on the ground.
“I knew they were a really good team and that I was going to have to come up with some big saves,” Luke said.
In the 60th minute, junior Janae Cousineau blasted a line drive shot that skimmed the fingertips of Luke and banged off the crossbar.
San Clemente broke through for the decisive goal in the 64th minute. Senior Tessa Andujar angled her dribble from the sideline back toward the middle and managed to get a left-footed crossing pass to the middle, where Mellem leaped high and managed to get off a shot with her right foot that cleared the fingertips of Luke, hit the crossbar, and bounced over the goal line.
“I knew that someone would be in the box, and I knew that if I could get it to Danielle (Mellem), she would get it,” Andujar said of her assist.
Corona del Mar managed to establish more possession into the attacking third over the final 10 minutes of the match, but Hapsic had a nice save on a shot by Sea Kings forward Maddie O’Conner and sophomore Sydney Fuertes and senior Mikaela Carrillo sealed the win with pivotal defensive plays to shut down attacks.
“The girls put the work in, we played to our game plan, and left it all out on the field,” Sea Kings coach Bryan Middleton said.
“We have no regrets, but unfortunately, San Clemente earned a goal in the run of play."
Also in Division 1:
Santa Margarita 1, Trabuco Hills 0: Samantha Trenary scored in the first half for the Eagles (24-4-2), who advanced to the semifinals for the second consecutive year with a victory over the Mustangs (13-8-5) at Trabuco Hills.
Flintridge Sacred Heart 3, Tesoro 1: The Tologs (18-1-2) scored twice in the second half in a victory over the Titans (15-3-6) at Occidental College.
In Division 2:
Long Beach Wilson 2, Sunny Hills 1: The Bruins (17-5-5) scored twice in the second half to knock off the Lancers (19-5-4) at Sunny Hills.
In Division 6:
St. Margaret’s 3, South Pasadena 1: Alexa Barbaresi, Katie Donahue and McCaully Patch tallied goals, as The Tartans (23-2-1) advanced to the semifinals with a win over the Tigers at St. Margaret’s.
Ocean View 1, San Marino 1 (Ocean View advances on Pk’s 4-3): Hope Welder’s second-half goal tied the match, and the Seahawks (13-8-4) moved into the semifinals by defeating the Titans (13-7-5) in penalty kicks at San Marino High.
