Santa Margarita, Irvine Splash to Tie

The Santa Margarita girls’ soccer team, top-ranked in Orange County, faced rain and mud at the home of one of its most bitter Sea View League rivals Tuesday at Irvine High, and was happy to escape with a 1-1 tie.

The Eagles (16-0-2, 3-0-1 in league) trailed, 1-0, at halftime, but Erin Beattie scored in the 60th minute to tie it. After that, Santa Margarita dominated the rest of the second half, outshooting No. 10 Irvine, 12-0.

“This is a great moral victory, there is no question about that,” Santa Margarita Coach Chuck Morales said. “When you measure everything out there, we beat the pants off of them.”

Santa Margarita controlled the midfield by charging Eagle players Meagan Lingo and Petra Glavin with marking Irvine’s Katie Roda, a daunting task.

“We went out and played hard against all their players, but definitely Katie is always a threat offensively,” Santa Margarita’s Annie Luke said. “She’s a great player.”

Roda seemed to be involved in the majority of plays in the first half, but appeared to tire in the second.

“They had a lot of intensity,” Luke said. “Everyone comes out doubly hard playing us. I think after we initially stopped them, we were able to fight back and buckle down and play our game. These elements don’t help, but we both had to play under it.”

The Eagles maintained possession of the ball for the majority of the second half and had several excellent scoring opportunities, including a shot by Kristen Rowe that hit the post.

“We felt that their vulnerability was on their outside [defense] and we went at them in the second half,” Morales said. “We kept making penetration on that outside.”

For Irvine (8-4-6, 1-0-3), the second half was disappointing.

“I don’t think I’m ever happy with a tie, especially since we had the lead, 1-0, at the half,” Irvine Coach Kevin Grimes said. “I feel like my girls gave a valiant effort, but you have to give credit to Santa Margarita.”

Irvine scored after Heather Swanson took a corner kick in the 35th minute. Erin Rummens headed it back across the goal from the far post and Shannon Filbin headed it in.

Santa Margarita returned 10 starters from last season’s team and has outscored opponents 38-4 this season. In more than half the Eagles’ games, Morales has pulled his starters and played his reserves.