Los Alamitos survives battle with Mater Dei
Los Alamitos survives battle with Mater Dei
The Griffins win in a shootout, 3-1, to advance to the Division I semifinals against Aliso Niguel.
SANTA ANA - The red and blue storm erupted from midfield and quickly engulfed teammate Kelsey Salcido.
The junior's kick during the overtime shootout clinched Los Alamitos' victory over Mater Dei after the teams played to a scoreless tie through regulation and two overtime periods Thursday in the CIF-SS Division I girls soccer quarterfinals match at Mater Dei High.
Mater Dei had one kick left when Salcido's penalty kick made it 3-1 in favor of the Griffins (20-3-5). They move on to face Aliso Niguel in Tuesday's semifinals round.
"It was far beyond an emotional victory," Griffins coach Steve Soler said. "Mater Dei is a great team, a beautiful team. It took us some time to adjust to them. We just played solid defense. (Mater Dei's) Lindsay Brown is a heck of a player. You can't give her room."
The Monarchs (14-4-5) end the season as the four-time defending Trinity League champions. They also graduate 14 seniors.
"It was a classic CIF quarterfinal match," Mater Dei coach Matty West said. "I'm real impressed with this group and how far they have come. We had a lot of fun. It's real tough. A lot of girls contributed so much for so long. It was a tough goodbye."
The match played out evenly between two teams that hadn't met before this season. But it was clear early on that Los Alamitos was out to stop Brown.
The Notre Dame-bound senior received the ball at the top of the box minutes into the contest, only to be greeted by a wall of four Griffins defenders.
"Our defense played amazing," Los Alamitos goalie Amanda McDonough said. "I'm so proud of our team. Penalty kicks were in the back of my head the whole time."
Mater Dei's defense was just as stubborn, with goalie Darien Vercillo leading the way. She made a couple aggressive plays coming out of the net to punch crosses away.
The overtime periods were more of the same, and eventually Los Alamitos won in the shootout.
"Mater Dei's defense was solid," the Griffins' Katie Peterson said. "We haven't played them before and didn't know what to expect. We showed our heart and determination."
Contact the writer: ctobolski@ocregister.com
