Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy’s Laura Thompson, Tologs soccer team bury St. Lucy’s

LOS ANGELES — It was more than a nonleague match.

It was personal.

The Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy girls’ soccer team did not forget what St. Lucy’s did a year ago. Last season, St. Lucy’s upset the then-No. 1-ranked team in the nation at Occidental College.

A year later, the Tologs were not going to lose again.

Flintridge Sacred Heart remembered the pain of losing and utterly dominated the Regents.

Junior forward Laura Thompson had three goals and Savannah Viola had a pair of scores, as the Tologs defeated St. Lucy’s, 5-1, on Friday at Occidental College’s Patterson Field.

“It was definitely personal,” Thompson said. “Our main goal was to win and score as many goals as possible. Our goal was to be aggressive.”

Thompson and the Tologs (4-0-1) were aggressive from the start.

They had six shots in the first 10 minutes, including four on goal, as their speed and aggressiveness proved to be two facets of their game that a previously unbeaten St. Lucy’s (6-1-1) team could not contain.

On their sixth shot, Thompson lifted a shot out of the reach of goalkeeper Heather Seman after the keeper came too far out of the box.

Ten minutes later, it was Viola’s turn to score.

She drilled a corner kick that Seman could not hold onto, as the ball deflected into the net.

By the 20th minute, the Tologs had a 2-0 lead and had already shown glimpses of their dominating self.

“The girls did not come out to play today,” St. Lucy’s Coach Sarah Losoya said. “Very obvious. When you go down, you can’t give up. We just rolled over.”

Whether St. Lucy’s rolled over or the Tologs simply dominated, the rout continued in the first half.

With two minutes left until the end of the half, St. Lucy’s had control in the Tologs’ territory. Seconds later, the Tologs had their third goal.

Hannah Armendariz took control of the ball, gave a short pass to Viola who directed a long pass to Thompson.

Thompson had two defenders to beat. She beat both of them to the ball.

From the right side of field, Thompson blasted a shot to the left side of the net for a 3-0 lead.

“She is speedy,” Viola said of Thompson. “I had full confidence that she would get the ball.”

Thompson took another pass from Viola — who scored from 40 yards out 15 minutes earlier — in the 56th minute for her first hat trick of her varsity career.

“Laura is a player,” Sacred Heart Coach Cesar Hidalgo said. “If we know how to use her, she’s going to score goals. We did exactly what we needed to do for her to score goals.”

Hidalgo’s team had plenty of chances to score.

Sacred Heart had 18 shots and 14 on goal, while limiting St. Lucy’s to five shots, just one in the first half.

“Our defense is solid,” Viola said.

Defensive starters Lauren Savo, Claire Kostelnik, Kendall Sandoval and Kayla Mills limited St. Lucy’s chances, only allowing a goal on a corner kick that was headed in by Beth Robbins in the 44th minute.

Mills, who was visibly upset during last year’s loss, was all smiles after Friday’s win.

“Any team we lose to we need to beat,” Mills said. “We work together. We have the ability to be that dominant all of the time.”