Girls’ Soccer: Sage falls behind in league after loss at St. Magaret’s

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO — The road to a second straight Academy League title just got tougher for the Sage Hill School girls’ soccer team.

No one would question the toughness of rival St. Margaret’s after the display the Tartans put on at their home field Friday night.

St. Margaret’s dominated, scoring two goals off corner kicks to claim a 2-0 league victory that gives the Tartans the upper hand in the race for the crown.

There are still eight league games remaining, but St. Margaret’s (6-2-2, 2-0 in league) sent a statement after losing to Sage Hill (3-4-3, 1-1) twice last year.

“I think they beat us in every area of the field,” said Sage Hill Coach Mike Hammond, whose team lost to St. Margaret’s for the first time in his three-year tenure. “They won every 50-50 ball, they won every head ball. I just feel like they wanted it more than we did today ... 50-50 balls are just desire and work rate. We just didn’t have the work rate today.”

The Tartans peppered the Sage Hill defense with scoring chances throughout the first half, and it finally paid off in the 39th minute. Anne Otterbein’s free kick from 30 yards was deflected out of play by Sage Hill goalie Kayla Gratzer-Von Lintel, who made six saves.

St. Margaret’s made the most of its corner kick. The boot into the box was headed in by St. Margaret’s senior Olivia Miller, and the Tartans took a 1-0 halftime lead.

“Headers have always been off and on for me,” said Miller, who tallied her sixth goal of the season. “I’ve hit the pipe so many times when I’ve taken headers off corners. It was great to finish, and it was great [to get the] momentum. It’s hard to go into the second half tied 0-0, so it was a good upper hand to have in the second half.”

The hosts added to it in the 52nd minute, when senior Sarah Gencarella scored off another corner kick. St. Margaret’s was well on its way to its sixth straight victory.

Defensively, St. Margaret’s was stout with the play of Otterbein, Cailin Young and Natalie McAleer, among others. St. Margaret’s freshman goalie Niki Miles had to make just three saves.

Last year it was now-seniors Lexi Magliarditi and Claire Novotny who burned St. Margaret’s, each scoring a deciding goal in the two league games against the Tartans. But on Friday night, they were really limited to just one quality chance each. Novotny’s blast from about 30 yards out went just wide right in the first half. Magliarditi’s cross from the right side of the box, after splitting two defenders, went wide left in the second half.

“If you give Lexi and Claire time to play the ball, they’re going to hurt you,” St. Margaret’s Coach Johnny Marmelstein said. “Claire hurt us last year in the second game, Lexi hurt us in the first game. When you give them time and space, they’ll kill you, so what we tried to do was limit their time and space. I mean, our defense is a little unorthodox. It’s not to kind of sit in front of people. We really go after people.”

Senior Lauren Thunen stood out in the midfield for Sage Hill, which has given up three goals in its first two league games after recording shutouts in all 10 last year. Hammond brought senior center back Rachael Jaffe up to forward at the end, and she had a good chance in the closing minutes after a cross from freshman Olivia Lowe. But Miles was able to get the ball out of danger.

Miller said it was big to beat Sage Hill for the first time in three seasons. Senior forward Grace Chalmers also consistently created scoring opportunities for St. Margaret’s.

“To lose sophomore year I was really disappointed in the team, and then junior year again was just awful,” Miller said. “They beat us twice last year, which was really difficult. There’s nothing harder than losing to your rival ... but we’ve really put a lot of energy into this season. One of our goals is to beat Sage Hill both times in league. We haven’t won league since my freshman year either, and that’s really important to us.”

The teams will play again Jan. 29 at Sage Hill, and Marmelstein said he expects a different game at the Lightning’s home field.

Hammond certainly hopes so.

“We haven’t played well [this season],” he said. “Honestly, we haven’t played up to our ability. But this should wake them up I think.”