Two second-half goals within seven minutes from Santa Barbara’s Athena Bow-Graham gave the Dons the momentum they needed for a 3-1 win Friday night over San Marcos — and the Channel League title.
“This is like obviously the best moment of my life,” an excited Bow-Graham said, celebrating with teammates in front of the home Peabody Stadium crowd. “Out of my career, honestly, playing for like 13 years, this is the best moment ever. It’s going to be with me for the rest of my life. We worked so hard this season for it.”
San Marcos took a 1-0 lead into halftime, on a late goal by sophomore Leilani Venegas on a loose ball in the box from a throw-in.
That was the cap of a some good first-half opportunities for the Royals, including a nifty bicycle kick from sophomore Kaci Schapansky two minutes into the game, saved by Santa Barbara goalie Carolina Koceman.
Both teams showed solid defense near the goals.
Bow-Graham scored the equalizer 10 minutes into the second half. Senior Caitlin Hansen “crossed from outside the box and I put it in with my right foot to the top left corner,” Bow-Graham said.
That seemed to give the Dons confidence, pretty well controlling play the rest of the game.
“At halftime we went in there and we spoke, we calmed things down, and we knew exactly what we had to do to get the first goal,” Santa Barbara coach Willie Sims said. “As soon as we got the first goal, we doubled down and we knew we were going to get that second one.”
With 23 minutes left, Bow-Graham got on top of a loose ball on top of the box and drilled it in for a 2-1 lead.
To put the icing on it in the final minute, the Dons’ Camila Jeronimo hit a quick rebound shot to score, after a Kasia Wolf shot was saved.
“Obviously we wanted to come in here and give these girls a good game, and we did that for the first half,” San Marcos coach Brian “Ziggy” Ziegenhagen said.
“Second half, I think we got a little bit complacent on our pressure. The throw in that they got (for Bow-Graham’s first goal) caught everybody off guard. It just takes one moment to change the momentum. Santa Barbara did a fabulous job of staying with the game and sticking with the game plan and getting the result they want.”
For Bow-Graham, a senior, the moments were there for the taking on Senior Night in the last regular-season game.
“I was like, it’s coming down to this, this is my final moment, we got this,” she said. “And I couldn’t be able to do it without my team.”
“The girls knew what they had to do,” Sims said. “It’s one of those days we just felt good and we knew we were going to get back into it, and this is what the girls wanted. This is what it’s all about, right?”
The Royals will regroup and prepare for the CIF playoffs, Ziegenhagen said.
“I’m really proud of the girls,” he said. “We’ve had a good season. I believe that we’re still the best team. I think it shows that we have great ideas, we have great movement off the ball, great movement with the ball.”
The Dons, he said, “were really aggressive in the final third and obviously they did a good job of finishing. All credit to them, and their coaching staff.”
Santa Barbara finishes the league season at 7-0-3, and San Marcos is 5-2-2.