NEWPORT BEACH – La Mirada’s Mia Cook made a beeline for Kiersten Mahan. A week earlier, it was a disconsolate Mahan who, after her shot hit the crossbar, took a few steps toward her disappointed teammates at midfield, then turned around to console goalkeeper Cook after they had just lost in penalty kicks to Sage Hill in a CIF Southern Section championship game.

But on Saturday, after the final whistle, it was a different embrace. One of unbridled joy. One of emotional zeniths. One of victory.

La Mirada’s girls soccer team, in its moment of atonement, won the CIF Southern California Regional Division IV championship with a 1-0 victory over Sage Hill.

A week ago didn’t matter any longer. One goal in regulation is all it took to extend a legacy and override the disappointment.

“It was a much happier embrace,” Cook said after grabbing four saves and shutting out the Lightning for the second time in eight days.

La Mirada goalkeeper Mia Cook had four saves and shut out Sage Hill for a 1-0 victory Saturday, March 8, in the Division IV championship game of the Southern California Regional playoffs. (Photo by Martin Henderson)

It’s the second regional championship in three tries for La Mirada (16-9-1), which won in 2016 but lost in 2020, all under coach Dave Christensen, who is in his 15th season with the Matadores.

It was the first regional final for Sage Hill (18-4), which won its first section title a week ago.

All three of La Mirada’s victories in these regional playoffs were 1-0.

“They battled and believed all season,” Christensen said of his squad, which came into the game with a revamped 4-3-3 lineup and an agenda focused on attacking more than in the section final.

But La Mirada enjoyed victory because of its stellar defense in the box and because senior Brianna Briggs thought, ‘Why not?”

Briggs took a pass from junior Zoe Chang mid-box, did a spin move to her left and rifled the ball past Lightning goalkeeper Finley Maynard in the 49th minute.

“I had a feeling of her coming hard,” Briggs said. “I just pulled it back and hoped for the best. You don’t know unless you shoot the ball.”

The nifty move drew props from Maynard. “I anticipated the wrong way on that goal,” she said. “She faked me out.”

The Matadores had the lead, but they didn’t have it in the bag. Not by a long shot. Most of the game was controlled by Sage Hill on its home pitch, and the Lightning absolutely dominated the latter stages, including the 6½ minutes of stoppage.

They had three opportunities but all went high. The two best shots were from Jaden Rall. And before that, after the scoreboard clock stopped at two minutes, Cook saved a goal near the upper right corner.

In the 54th minute, the Lightning struck for two shots, but the defense and Cook saved the day – and the lead.

Sage Hill outshot La Mirada, 14-6, and had 7 shots on goal to the Matadores’ 3.

“We had so many chances to convert – throw-ins, corners, free kicks, but their defense is really strong,” said Maynard, who had one save. “They have height. No. 14 (freshman Zoey Santiago) is probably their best player, for sure. She was all over every single ball.”

It was particularly noticeable on throw-ins, where Sage’s Rall provided the elevation and distance that made every opportunity comparable to a corner kick. Without question, the ability to defend the throw-in by the strong-armed freshman was critical to La Mirada’s victory. And with strong or critical performances from Santiago, Mahan, Marissa Valdez and Kaitlyn Walters, goals were hard to come by.

Sage Hill did find the back of the net once but was whistled offside.

“Dominating isn’t always the reward, right,” said Sage Hill coach Isaac Sierra. “Ultimately, you need to score to win.”

Sage Hill was without the quarterback of its offense, Gisselle Barron, who suffered an ankle injury in Tuesday’s shootout victory over San Diego. Everyone on the Lightning side thought she could have made a difference. But every day is different. Sage Hill didn’t score in regulation when it had Barron a week earlier against La Mirada.

“That’s soccer, it’s a crazy game,” Maynard said. “There’s never a guarantee you’re going to win or lose, it’s just a matter of what day it is.”

On Saturday, it was La Mirada’s day – finally.

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