San Clemente's three-peat quest falls short
MISSION VIEJO - At the end of Saturday’s CIF-SS Division 1 championship match, the San Clemente Tritons found themselves in an unfamiliar situation.
Their bid for a third consecutive CIF title was denied by Aztecs senior goalie Lacie Carver, who stopped three of four shots in the penalty kick session to lead Esperanza to its first ever CIF title with a 3-1 win after the two teams played to a scoreless tie Saturday night at Mission Viejo High.
“It came down to penalty kicks and their keeper (Carver) had amazing saves,” said Tritons coach Stacey Finnerty.
Click here to see a slide show from this final and the other Saturday finals.
San Clemente had never lost a CIF title match, going 2-0-3 in five previous appearances.
Mission Viejo (1986-88), Marina (1993-95), Santa Margarita (1996-98), and the Tritons (2002-04) currently hold the distinction of county programs that have won three straight CIF championships.
“It was a match of No. 1 and No. 2 in the county, and coming into it, I thought it would be even,” Finnerty said. “There were things that happened that were out of our control and that’s the luck of the game.”
Though the Tritons offense managed several corner kick opportunities and deep penetration into the Aztecs attacking third throughout the match, they were never able to take advantage of their scoring chances.
But San Clemente’s defense came up with several big plays of it’s own down the stretch to shut down an Aztecs offense that had scored 15 goals in four previous playoff matches this season.
Early in the first overtime period, San Clemente came tantalizingly close to the big break it needed to win the title when senior Lauren Fryer got her foot on a ball and sent a slow roller down the middle of the field that appeared headed for the middle of the net.
But Esperanza senior defender Amanda Repasky chased the ball down and kicked it away just as the ball trickled toward the goal line.
The Tritons officially saw their title hopes dashed in penalty kicks, as Carver made three extraordinary saves.
San Clemente will find out Sunday if it has qualified for the CIF Southern California Regional Championship tournament, but history suggests that they should get a nod. The Division 1 runner-up has earned a berth into the Regionals since it’s inception in 2008.
The Tritons are the defending Southern California Regional champions, and Finnerty is confident that her team will be ready if selected.
“The girls know what it takes and we’re hoping to get a chance and make up for this,” she said.
