Cougars Claim South Coast Title

The Capistrano Valley girls’ soccer team is quietly going about its business, and after defeating San Clemente, 3-2, and clinching their fourth consecutive South Coast League title Monday, the Cougars didn’t do a lot of celebrating.

There were a few high fives and a couple of hugs. But that was it.

“This was a very emotional game,” Cougar Coach Jack Peterson said. “This was a really good team we played today and this was the kind of win we needed going into CIF [playoffs].”

The top-ranked Cougars (18-1, 8-0) came out firing, with six shots in the first five minutes. The Triton defense and goalkeeper Alyson Berger held off the attack until Kristen Moore controlled a loose ball on the wing and took it to the corner of the box, where she placed a shot into the far corner of the goal five minutes into the game.

San Clemente tied it when Whitney Jones knocked in a rebound after a flurry of shots 16 minutes into the game.

The Cougars came back and continued to hammer the Tritons with shots, 13 in the first half, but Berger recorded six saves to preserve the 1-1 tie.

However, the second half began like the first and five minutes in, senior Megan Abbamonto scored her team-leading 14th goal for the Cougars. When Berger came out to block a shot she collided with Lindsay Greco, the ball landed on the goal line and Abbamonto was there to put it away.

Midway through the second half, the Cougars, who outshot the Tritons, 23-11, picked up some insurance when Abbamonto sent a pass from midfield to Ashley Casas on the wing. Casas juked around her defender and slammed the ball past Berger for a 3-1 lead.

The Tritons (12-2-3, 6-2) didn’t back down. With five minutes remaining, a free kick by Emily Ernsdorf brought goalkeeper Staci Sinkway out of the net. Jones tipped the ball to Brittany Emerson, who sent it into the wide-open goal. Another San Clemente free kick with under a minute remaining bounced in front of the goal but was cleared away.

In the Academy League:

St. Margaret’s 5, Capistrano Valley Christian 1--Emily Parker had two goals and Katie Conklin had three assists as St. Margaret’s (16-4, 8-0) clinched the league title.