CORONA — The Santiago girls soccer team might have come away empty-handed in the opening five minutes, but the Sharks attacking mentality and determination paid dividends later on in the first half.
Villa Park senior goalkeeper Mikayla Kendall made three spectacular saves to keep Santiago off of the scoreboard early, but Kaitlyn Taylor and Emilee Perez both produced goals before halftime. The Sharks held off a late charge by the Spartans for a 2-1 win in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 semifinal.
Santiago (22-1-3) hosts Temecula Valley (20-1-1) in the Division 1 championship match Saturday evening. The division’s top-seeded teams played earlier this season, with Santiago coming away with a 2-1 victory.
Taylor nearly gave the Sharks the lead 18 seconds into the match, but Kendall made a sprawling save to deny Taylor the goal. Kendall stopped a shot by Sheila Sanchez about 50 seconds later, and Kendall came up big once again in the fifth minute, when she dove and stopped another shot by Taylor.
“She’s been a wall for us and kept us in this one,” Villa Park coach Breanna Carrillo said of Kendall.
Mike Fleming was pleased with the start, although he would have liked to see one of those shots go in.
“It wasn’t necessarily by design to score off the opening kickoff,” Fleming said. “You always want to start the game strong, and early goals change games. We just want those first touches to be positive ones.”
Santiago finally broke through in the 31st minute with a well-organized counterattack. Sammy Salinas got things moving with a long pass to Krystal Medina, who dribbled forward before playing a diagonal ball out to Taylor on the left side. Taylor took a touch and then fired a shot inside the back post.
“That was an exciting moment,” Taylor said. “Krystal played a perfect ball and I got my foot around it.”
And Santiago doubled its lead five minute later. Salinas sent a free kick into the box, and Kendall dove forward to punch the ball away. Perez got a foot on the rebound and fired the ball into the net.
“Anytime a team comes here, we want them to chase the scoreboard,” Fleming said. Villa Park had not played on the road in the playoffs until today, so getting two goals before halftime was really big for us.”
Villa Park (19-4-2) tried to put together some counterattacks of its own, but most fizzled out in the final third. The Spartans best scoring opportunities throughout the match came on set pieces.
Santiago had some nervous moments during the final minutes. Villa Park scored in the 79th minute, as Kaitlyn Flanagan headed home a corner kick from Rylee Lewis. The Spartans had a chance to level the score in stoppage time, but a header from a free kick went into the hands of Santiago keeper Alexa Riefer.
“I think everyone is excited for this opportunity because we have all worked really hard to get here,” senior defender and co-captain Haley Clark said. “We have been preparing for this moment all season.”
Villa Park’s season is not over. The Spartans have qualified for the CIF State regional playoffs by advancing to the Division 1 semifinals.
“This group is a bunch of fighters, and they are going to be ready to go next week,” Carrillo said.