Girls Soccer: Islanders Win, to Face La Jolla in Final

The Coronado girls soccer team seized a two-goal advantage before intermission against top-seeded Santa Margarita in the Division II semifinals of the CIF Southern California Regional Championships.

Led by a disciplined defensive effort and standout play from goalkeeper Cory Demarco, the Islanders held tight to blank the Eagles, 2-0, on Wednesday afternoon at Santa Ana Stadium.

With fellow Western League member La Jolla High winning its game against Bishop Amat, it will be the fourth-seeded Islanders meeting the second-seeded Vikings in the final Friday at 5 p.m. at Warren High School in Downey. Maybe the CIF will send both teams north in the same bus.

Santa Margarita (25-5-3) didn't go down without a fight, firing seven shots on goal in the second half. But Lauren Bohaboy and company couldn't find the back of the net as the Eagles' season came to a close.

Coronado (14-6-4) jumped ahead in the 14th minute of the first half when Abigail Callahan scored on a rebound. The freshman midfielder received possession of the ball after a teammate's shot rattled off the cross post, and slipped a shot past Santa Margarita senior goalkeeper Haley Guerrero.

The Islanders struck again as the contest neared halftime. Senior forward Stephanie Hamilton fired a well-placed shot from medium-range for a commanding 2-0 lead.

The second goal seemed to briefly take the wind out of the sails of the Eagles, who rarely trailed during the regular season en route to a Trinity League title. Although Santa Margarita is armed with the firepower to mount a comeback, coach Chuck Morales sensed the gravity of the Islanders' second score.

"We made a few mistakes defensively, particularly on their second goal," Morales said. "That second score was the nail in the coffin. It was a mistake on our part, but today they were the better team."

Both teams appeared visibly revved up before the start of the second half, but Coronado's dominating defense continued to be the story of the match.

"We really tried to stress on defending in the second half," Islanders coach Kiko Medina said. "It was important not to let them get an early goal because we knew they would feed off their first goal of the game. The girls found the necessary determination to finish."

Bohaboy was font and center in the cross-hairs of Medina’s defensive game plan. The Notre Dame-bound senior tallied her 100th career goal on Monday afternoon and led Orange County in scoring this season.

"The main focus was [Bohaboy]," Medina said. "She's a phenomenal player and we saw that in person today. Our mindset was to shut her down and force their other players to step up. Fortunately, we denied them a lot of great chances and we knew that's what it would take to get it done today."

Bohaboy put four shots on goal in the second half and her teammates added another three scoring chances. But even when Coronado’s defense broke down, Demarco made sure nothing broke up the shutout.

The junior goalie grabbed six saves in the second half. Half of those stops can only be described as sensational.

"Cory made some phenomenal saves," Medina said. "She's been absolutely huge in the CIF playoffs and she continued that great play today. The rest of the girls fed off of her performance."

Santa Margarita simply couldn’t break down her wall on Wednesday.

"[Demarco] was impressive," Morales said. "I thought she was the player of the game. Some of those saves she made in the second half made the difference."

The Eagles' soccer season now comes to a close, and Morales returns to the fairways and greens as Santa Margarita’s golf coach. The soccer program loses seven seniors currently committed to play at Division 1 schools.

"I've enjoyed having each and every one of those seniors," Morales said. "I wish today's result could've been different so they had a better ending. We have a great crop of young kids for the future; we always reload at Santa Margarita."

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