Oaks Christian draws with top seed Santa Margarita
In what was a defensive struggle most of the match, Oaks Christian and Santa Margarita finished with a 0-0 draw Thursday in the first leg of their opening-round match in the CIFSS Open Division playoffs.
The teams will play the second leg of the two-game series Saturday at 3 p.m. at Santa Margarita.
This is the first year the CIF Southern Section has had an Open Division for soccer. Eight teams were selected for the bracket. Santa Margarita is the No. 1 seed and Oaks Christian is the No. 8 seed.
The two-leg format will also be used for the quarterfinals and semifinals with the higher-seed team hosting the second match and the winner being decided from an aggregate score of the two matches.
Oaks Christian coach Sebastian Alvarado is optimistic about the new format saying, “Our mindset is to play the same way we did today, and hopefully find a goal or two on the road.”
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Oaks Christian's defense was strong throughout the game with center backs Abigail Seawright and Isa Wieder doing a good job containing the Santa Margarita attack, led by USC signee and striker Faith George.
Oaks Christian goalie Hannah Wieler had five saves, including a strong poke save on George in the 30th minute in what was the best scoring chance for either team in the game.
“I think we played hard; it was a rough game back and forth,” Alvarado said. “Both teams had some good chances, and I thought it was a good result for us.”
Santa Margarita controlled possession for most of the game and outshot Oaks Christian 11-5.
George was able to take four shots in the game, but Oaks Christian was able to limit her a little bit more in the second half. She was limited to one shot that half.
Emmie Nunez had two shots for Santa Margarita, one coming from distance that missed just wide early in the second half. Felicity Nguyen also had two shots for Santa Margarita.
“Obviously Oaks Christian, any team that is in the Open Division is a top quality team, and it's gonna be a really hard game,” Santa Margarita coach Craig Bull said. “This game was as hard as we had all year, and hopefully we can clean some things up and execute a little bit better back home on Saturday.”
Oaks Christian was able to create a couple good chances on the counterattack. Peppperdine signee and midfielder Sarah Spears had one shot in the game after subbing on in the middle of the first half. Joanne-Jane Quiroz had a breakaway chance in the second half for Oaks Christian but was unable to convert.
Alvarado was pleased with his team's overall effort against Santa Margarita. Top-seeded Santa Margarita team has eight seniors who will be going to play Division I soccer next year.
Santa Margarita seniors other than George who signed to play in college include centerback Bella Gissendanner, going to Idaho next year, and midfielder Molly MacMillan, who is going to Texas.