The rain that washed over Santa Barbara County let up just before midday, but someone forgot to let the San Marcos girls soccer team know.
The Royals poured in five goals Wednesday night at Warkentin Stadium as they cruised to a 5-0 victory over Garden Grove in the first round of the CIF-SS Div. 4 playoffs.
“The win feels great. It was well deserved,” San Marcos first-year head coach Miguel Vences said. “The girls put in a lot of work preseason, all season and they definitely believed all year.”
Wednesday’s victory was the first San Marcos playoff win since the team won a CIF-SS title in 2020.
“Our goal was to make the playoffs. We knew it has been over two years, so the girls put in the work, it was well deserved and I give them a lot of credit,” Vences said.
As she has been all season, junior midfielder Zeina Matni was spectacular in her first playoff outing, netting two goals, both equally as impressive.
“We went into this game knowing that we wanted to win,” Matni said. “Personally, it was my first time going to CIF, so I didn’t want to get out in the first round.
“Yeah, we started off kind of shaky, but once we got that first goal and went into the second half, we had the momentum.”
The Royals did start a bit slow, as in the first half the team had all the possession but none of their shots could find the back of the net.
Through the first 30 minutes, San Marcos shot the ball eight times, about half of which were on goal.
But in the 32nd minute, the Royals finally broke through. A corner from senior midfielder Hattie Valdez found defensive midfielder Rio Chesluk, whose initial kick was blocked out.
A San Marcos player then headed the ball into the top of the post. Finally, in the scrum, it was the player who initially kicked the ball that ended up with the goal as Chesluk did just enough to give her Royals 1-0 lead.
“That goal took the nerves off and I think the girls got loose after that,” Vences said. “The belief kicked in a little bit more after that.”
The belief was in high gear in the second half as Matni got the Royals going early.
In the 50th minute, the junior had the ball on her left foot and shot a beautiful ball from the left side of the field that curved and found the right back post perfectly for a 2-0 lead.
“I really wanted to score this game,” Matni said. “Lately I’ve been scoring a lot with my left foot. I’m a righty, but I just trusted my left foot, and I just took one step around and just hit that far post.”
Looking to outdo herself, the junior scored again just three minutes later.
Matni controlled a back tap at around the 27-yard line, and like a basketball player chucking up a heat check, the junior ripped the ball with her right foot and kicked it high enough out of the keeper’s reach to give her team a 3-0 lead.
“After that first goal, I noticed how they weren’t stepping to me and I just took the first touch and made perfect contact with it. I was honestly a little shocked, but it went straight in,” Matni said.
From there, San Marcos really held onto the game and never let go. Junior midfielder Kate Selby rounded out the scoring for the Royals, scoring the final two goals of the game, both impressive.
One was a rocket shot that went right past the keeper, while the other was a rebound goal she shot from about 18 yards out that found the back of the net.
San Marcos goalkeeper Harlyn Griffin had a pair of saves as the Royals’ defense was stood tall.
The Royals now have Thursday off and will be back in action on Friday.
“We definitely can make a deep run in this year’s playoffs. I think we’re peaking at the right time,” Vences said.“Our greatest strength is defensively and I think with the attitude we bring defensively, we can make a deep run in the playoffs.
“As long as we get one goal, I’m extremely confident that we could close the game out.”
San Marcos will host Sage Hill in the second round of the playoffs at Warkentin Stadium on Friday at 3 p.m.