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Santiago girls soccer beats Santa Margarita in Division I regional final with stunning finish

March 9, 2025

RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA — A year ago, Santiago’s girls soccer team beat Santa Margarita in the section championship game but fell to the Eagles in the regional championship game in penalty kicks.

This season, Santiago flipped the script on Santa Margarita and beat the Eagles on penalty kicks 3-1 to win the CIF Southern California Regional Division I championship Saturday at Tesoro High, a week after losing to the Eagles in the Southern Section finals.

Corona Santiago players celebrate after winning the CIF Southern California Regional Division 1 girls soccer championship on penalty kicks against Santa Margarita in Santa Margarita on Saturday, March 8, 2025. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)

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Santa Margarita (20-2-2) beat Santiago 4-2 on Feb. 28 in the CIF Southern Section Open Division championship game.

The Eagles were seeking a record third consecutive regional championship. Santa Margarita beat Santiago in penalty kicks last season and beat Los Alamitos 1-0 in 2023.

This is the first regional championship title for Santiago since 2015.

“This is probably the best win I’ve experienced in my 26 years of coaching because of the way we did it,” Santiago coach Mike Fleming said. “To face them again after playing a subpar final, it’s the best moment in my years at Santiago. This team is resilient. Down a man, down a goal against a team like Santa Margarita, that doesn’t happen.”

Maddy Saruwatari, Abbie Kelly and Hailey Hild made penalty kicks for Santiago (24-3-2) after a 1-1 tie in regulation and overtime.

Santiago goalkeeper Abigail Turley made two diving saves during penalty kicks and made three big saves in the overtime period.

“I think the energy from the field and motivation from my teammates lifted me up,” Turley said. “I give my glory to God. I couldn’t have had those saves without him and my coaching.”

“She was great,” Santa Margarita coach Craig Bull said of Turley. “She’s a great keeper and in the end, she was the difference in the game.”

Santiago trailed for the entire second half but tied the game in stoppage time with a man down after a red card. On a set piece out of bounds, Kelly kicked the ball into traffic and after the ball hit the post, Hild scored with just over a minute left in regulation.

“We told Abbie Kelly to hit it hard, hit it low on frame and see if we can get some kind of deflection,” Fleming said. “Sometimes you just have to get a ball in the box and hope for good things.”

“I think it was mental fatigue,” Bull said. “We gave away a set piece and didn’t set up right for it. It’s a breakdown for sure but at that stage of the game, it’s understandable.”

In overtime, Santa Margarita had three major scoring opportunities but was unable to put the ball past Turley.

Five minutes into overtime, Jastel David passed inside to Lauren Lim, who shot high but Turley made a jumping save to send the ball over the post.

Two minutes later, Cora Fry had an open shot and Turley made a diving save.

“You need your best players to step up in the big moments and Abigail Turley is one of them,” Fleming said. “She’s one of the main reasons we were even in this match today. She’s been phenomenal.”

Santa Margarita was outplayed by Santiago in the first half, but scored a goal in stoppage time to take the lead. Lim dodged a defender on the left side, sent a pass to the middle and Felicity Nguyen scored.

It was goal No. 24 on the season for Nguyen, more than any Santa Margarita player has had in Bull’s tenure as head coach.

Santa Margarita battled adversity this season with crucial injuries and multiple players being ruled ineligible due to participating in camps put on by professional teams. North Carolina signee Peyton Trayer was ineligible after participating in a camp put on by the Kansas City Current of the National Women’s Soccer League.

Sophomore Mia Corona did not play Saturday due to playing in a camp sponsored by a professional team this past week.

“They already had a big weight on their shoulders after what the teams of the last two years achieved,” Bull said. “It was a real shame that a couple of our girls became what I would say unfairly ineligible, but the mentality here is no excuses and next man up. The girls that were here did a fantastic job for us.”

Santiago girls soccer beats Santa Margarita in Division I regional final with stunning finish Orange County Register

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Santiago girls soccer beats Santa Margarita in Division I regional final with stunning finish

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