Santa Margarita Marches On

For the better part of a half Friday, top-seeded Santa Margarita gave Foothill and the remaining teams in the Southern Section Division III boys’ soccer playoffs a glimmer of hope. The Eagles actually looked a little confused and sluggish next to an inspired Foothill side.

But by the early stages of the second half, Foothill’s hope had turned to despair and Santa Margarita had claimed another victim. The visiting Eagles scored three times in the second half, winning, 4-1, before about 400 in a quarterfinal. The Eagles (21-1-3), who eliminated Foothill from last year’s playoffs in the second round, are only two victories away from their fourth consecutive Division III title.

“I thought they came out hard,” said Sebastian Galmarini, who scored the Eagles’ first and third goals on leaping headers. “I think they were angry after what happened last year. We were asleep for the first 25 minutes.”

Santa Margarita Coach Curt Bauer credited Foothill Coach Barry Turner for giving his team a scare.

“They scouted us well,” Bauer said. “They smothered us in the first 25 minutes. They made us change our game.”

Foothill (16-8-4) took away what Santa Margarita does best--working the ball up the sidelines and crossing to the middle. Santa Margarita scored first, in the 25th minute on a Spencer George corner kick that Galmarini headed off the post and into the net. But Foothill tied it seconds before half when midfielder Cameron Winger left-footed a loose ball past Santa Margarita goalkeeper Erick Foss.

“We were fortunate on that one,” Turner said. “The ball took a lucky bounce over the keeper’s hand.”

Foothill, which won the Century League, wasn’t so fortunate in the second half. Seven minutes in, George’s corner kick found Kyle Carroll, who used his 6-foot-3 frame to beat two defenders and head the ball past Foothill keeper Brandon Shaver.

“That ball was six yards away from the goal,” Turner said. “It probably should have been knocked out of there, but they’ve got some big kids and they’re good in the air.”

Galmarini scored his second of the game and 20th of the season in the 72nd minute when he out-jumped Shaver for a loose ball and headed it into the right corner of the net. George, who notched his 26th and 27th assists, scored his 17th goal in the 80th minute when he chipped an errant pass over Shaver’s head.

“We felt we could do something at 1-1,” Turner said. “But they just wore on us. We kind of ran out of ideas at the end.”

In another Division III game:

Calabasas 2, Santiago 0--Gil Hoftman and Itzik Rapaport each scored second-half goals for Calabasas (21-1-1). Santiago finishes 17-5-4.