St. Margaret's too strong for Sage Hill, 3-0

NEWPORT BEACH - With first place in the Academy League on the line, the St. Margaret’s girls soccer team turned in a complete effort and brought home an important victory.

Sophomore Katie Donahue scored her team-best 16th goal and added an assist, and sophomore McCaully Patch had a goal and an assist as the Tartans defeated Sage Hill, 3-0, on Wednesday afternoon at Sage Hill High.

“It was a really nice win,” Donahue said. “We just have to keep playing as hard as we can and we know they’re going to come out for us on our field.”

St. Margaret’s (12-4-1, 5-0) takes sole possession of first place in the Academy League with its first victory at Sage Hill (7-6-2, 4-1) since Jan. 26, 2007.

“They were in our face and played well defensively in the first half,” Tartans coach Johnny Marmelstein said. “In the second half, we settled down and played the way that I know we’re capable of playing.”

Defense was the story early, as both teams were unable to establish consistent possessions in the face of heavy pressure.

The Tartans made a concerted effort to set up Donahue in scoring positions, but the Lightning trio of senior Megan Culberson and sophomores Caroline Grant and Sonna Taskinen sealed off open lanes to the goal.

With less than three minutes left in the first half, Donahue’s hard work helped give the Tartans the lead. Dribbling from the left sideline against heavy defensive pressure, she angled back toward the middle and got off a line drive shot past Lightning goalie Hannah MacLeod, giving St. Margaret’s a 1-0 lead.

The Tartans opened the second half on the attack and increased their lead less than 10 minutes in. After receiving a pass from Donahue, Patch sent a booming shot just over the head of MacLeod and into the net.

Sage Hill attempted to increase the offensive pressure behind sophomores Paige Krueger and Maddie Culberson, but the Tartans defense, sparked by sophomore Natalie Barbaresi and freshman McKenna Marmelstein, shut down their attack.

Marmelstein then sealed the victory, scoring on a header off a corner kick from Patch with less than four minutes to go.

“I think our defense played pretty well, but if we’re going to beat them, we’re going to have to score,” Lightning coach Chino Cid said. “We have a young team and I thought the girls played well. They (St. Margaret’s) are a phenomenal team and it’s always a good match-up against them.”