San Clemente girls capture Excalibur title

SANTA ANA - San Clemente girls soccer coach Stacey Finnerty identified finishing on corner kicks as a big key to winning the championship match of the biggest county tournament of the season.

Though it took nearly all of regulation, the Tritons accomplished their coach's goal — and in the process, brought home a tournament championship.

Senior Kelsey Wilson deflected a loose ball into the net with less than 20 seconds remaining in regulation and No. 4 San Clemente edged No. 2 Esperanza, 1-0, to win the 19th annual Excalibur Tournament on Wednesday at Foothill High.

“These girls believed in themselves and I'm so proud of them,” Finerty said.

The Tritons (14-2), led by Wilson, fellow senior Camille Berg and sophomore Lindsay Grant, focused their efforts on trying to contain standout Aztecs seniors Kylie Bono and Courtney Garcia, who entered the game with 18 goals between them.

They provided Esperanza chances to score in the first half, and the Aztecs outshot the Tritons, 8-5.

The second half was more of the same. The Aztecs (11-1-1) had two chances late to take the lead, but Tritons goalie Tiffany Corder made a nice save on a shot by Aztecs junior Ashleigh Cooley, and fellow junior Katie Gallanes uncorked a shot that bounced over the head of Corder, but narrowly missed the net.

With time running out, the Tritons finally broke though, as sophomore Frannie Coxe sent a corner kick to the middle of the box. Alexis Mahony managed to deflect the ball toward the goal. Wilson got just enough on the ball to get it to roll into the right corner of the net.

“I managed to slip it through and the ball went in,” Wilson said. “To win this tournament after playing in it four straight years is awesome.”

Esperanza coach John King credited the Tritons for taking advantage of their chance.

“The corner kick came in, we were unable to clear it, and it trickled in,” King said. “It was a case of them being in the right place at the right time."

Contact the writer: jeichelberger@ocregister.com