Trenary's Goal Lifts Santa Margarita into Girls Soccer Semifinals

Heading into their CIF Southern Section Division 1 quarterfinal against Santa Margarita, the Trabuco Hills girls soccer coaching staff knew the Mustangs had to contain Lauren Bohaboy.

And while Wake Forest-bound senior Jessica Mandrich, a player who coach Sarah Higuera Trost called perhaps the best defender ever to come out of Trabuco Hills, did an outstanding job on the Eagles' All-American striker, it still wasn't enough to topple the Trinity League champions.

Riding the strength of a Sami Trenary one-timer at the 14-minute mark of the first half, Santa Margarita ground out a tooth-and-nail 1-0 victory over the scrappy Mustangs Thursday afternoon at Trabuco Hills High.

"Kudos to Trabuco, they contained Bo," Santa Margarita coach Chuck Morales said. "They never let her get free, and that's what you have to do. It was ugly, but a win is a win."

The Mustangs harassed Bohaboy from the opening whistle, double- and triple-teaming her every time she got her feet on the ball, and refusing to let her turn toward the goal with possession.

But, as the Eagles have proven time and again, Santa Margarita's symphony is merely conducted by Bohaboy -- she can't play every note -- and when opposing teams devote resources to contain her, that's when the orchestra chimes in.

Trenary's goal was an outstanding individual effort that started from 35 yards out when Taylor Krebs found the sophomore forward shading the right side of the box.

Trenary took the pass and shook her defender out of her socks, then scooted toward the frame with the helpless defense collapsing and fired off a 10-yard roller that slipped in near post.

"We had a great first half," Morales said. "But I thought we lost our composure in that second half. We didn't adjust to them correctly in the second half. Aubrey Baker got a little hot-hand there, she started moving the ball a lot. We knew that we can't let her free, and I thought we got a little tired."

Krebs hit the post twice for Santa Margarita, which took five shots and had seven corner setpieces in the first half, but only four shots and two corners in the second. Trabuco Hills, meanwhile, was on the attack for most of the second half, and the Eagles depended heavily on defenders Gabi Ozer, Annie Gillen and Mackenzie Chochrane and midfielder Jennifer Rupey, who were all outstanding, especially Ozer.

"We knew how strong of a player [Bohaboy] was,"  Higuera Trost said. "We're very proud of not only [Mandrich], but the whole defensive back line. We didn't want to let [Bohaboy] turn because she can shoot from anywhere. So that was the game plan going in. We played more reserved in the first half, but in the second we settled into a bit of a rhythm."

Both Baker, a junior forward, and senior midfielder Natalie Werner did well to find space in the second half, as the Mustangs fired off seven shots and kept the pressure on Haley Guerrero (four saves) and her defense.

Santa Margarita's Gillen was shown a pair of yellow cards, resulting in a red and her ejection with 1:04 left in the second half. That set up Trabuco Hills' last of three free-kick opportunities on the afternoon, but Werner's boot hit off the Eagles' wall.

"Only one other team in the history of Trabuco has made it this far," Higuera Trost said. "I always believed in the kids, we believed in each other as a program, and to go this far, we're ecstatic. We're very proud of our accomplishments, especially taking third in the South Coast League. A lot of people didn't think we'd be here, but we were."

Because Gillen was shown two yellows before receiving her red card, Morales believes she will be available when the Eagles suit up against top-seeded San Clemente Tuesday at home for the semifinals.

"We will check with the CIF on that one though," he said.

With the victory, Santa Margarita moved to 24-4-2 overall.

San Clemente (18-2-7), champions of the South Coast League, beat Corona del Mar, 1-0, at home Thursday afternoon.

More photos to be posted soon. Stay tuned!