San Clemente rallies twice to win South Coast title

SAN CLEMENTE - With the South Coast League title and a possible No. 1 overall seed in the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs hanging in the balance, San Clemente senior Amanda Simkins produced when her team needed it most.

Simkins scored the winning goal late in the second half as No. 3 San Clemente rallied twice to clinch the South Coast League title with a 3-2 victory over No. 1 Aliso Niguel on Wednesday at San Clemente High.

“This win really lifted our team up heading into CIF,” Simkins said. “As a team, we did a lot of preparation this week for Aliso and told ourselves that we can’t lose to them and that we had to win no matter what.”

San Clemente (14-2-7, 5-0-3) trailed Aliso Niguel (15-1-4, 5-1-2) by one point entering the match, and the only way to win the league title was with a victory.

The Tritons have won at least a share of the South Coast League title for five consecutive seasons. They also handed the Wolverines their first loss of the season. 

“My girls had to rise to occasion and this win was an accumulation of work ethic and belief,” Tritons coach Stacey Finnerty said. “We respected Aliso because of the weapons they have and they always bring it to us.”

The Wolverines seized a 1-0 lead in the sixth minute, as sophomore Dominique Bond-Flasza received a side throw-in, found space, and blasted a twisting line drive over the head of Tritons senior goalie Sheridan Hapsic and into the upper far corner of the goal.

San Clemente answered in the ninth minute. On a corner kick opportunity, Simkins floated a ball into the box and sophomore teammate Sara Sprenger headed a shot past Wolverines senior goalie Sammy Prud’homme and into the net.

Sprenger nearly gave the Tritons the lead in the 15th minute when she found space in the box and blasted a hard liner toward the net. But Prud’homme made a fully extended diving save to her left to prevent the goal.

Prud’homme came up big again in the 18th minute, as she made a fully extended dive to the right to stop a bouncing shot by Tritons sophomore Nikki Faris that appeared ready to bounce into the far post corner of the goal.   

Aliso Niguel recaptured the lead in the 31st minute. After a side throw-in from freshman Sarah Roberts was knocked around the box by several players, junior Lindsey Doyle managed to get off a shot as she was sliding to the ground that sailed into the upper near post corner of the goal.

However the Tritons answered in the final seconds of the first half. Senior Marlee Carrillo lofted a high arching sideline throw-in toward the goal that fellow senior Janae Cousineau headed past Prud’homme and into the goal.

“I felt pressure on my back and was trying to box out the defender,” Cousineau said. “I saw the ball coming, jumped, and flicked it. When I looked back, I saw it go through a gap.

"Everything worked out perfectly.”

Carrillo credited the work of her teammate on the match-tying play and the toughness of her team in a physical match.

“Janae worked hard and we made it through,” Carrillo said. “It is definitely a physical battle playing Aliso and we gave it the extra effort tonight that pulled us through for the win.”

The match became a defensive struggle throughout most of the second half, as each team’s backline prevented many quality scoring chances.

Then in the 70th minute, Cousineau sent a pass toward the right corner of the attacking third for sophomore Ally Lynn. Lynn dribbled toward the goal and managed to get off a rolling crossing pass just past an extended dive to the right by Prud’homme and over to Simkins streaking toward the far post. She tapped the ball into the near corner of the goal to give San Clemente its first lead of the match.

“There have been times when I haven’t been on the far post and it has cost us,” Simkins said. “In this game, I really followed through on making my runs to the back post, and on that play, Ally slotted it through on the ground and I put it in. I hadn’t scored in three or four games and I really needed that to help lift my confidence up again.”

Aliso Niguel had two chances to tie the match in the final moments of the match. Off a side throw-in from freshman Sarah Roberts in the 78th minute, junior Danica Koos found space and managed to get off a shot that sailed over the crossbar.

One minute later, senior Ashley McCutcheon sent a high arching pass into the box that Bond-Flasza managed to get a head on for a shot. But the shot floated over the crossbar and the Tritons held on for the victory.  

“We were a little disorganized at the beginning of the game,” Wolverines coach Randy Dodge said. “This is a tough place to play and they play well at home. It’s disappointing because we wanted to win league, but we have good senior leadership and good young players and we’re going to be fine. We just can’t let this happen during CIF.”

Finnerty said the Tritons ability to play their style of game was key in the win.

“We focused on winning individual battles, and once we did that, being the passing and connecting team that we like to be paid off,” Finnerty said. “We were also able to counterattack with our speed and we have the weapons on our set pieces.”