Mater Dei girls soccer team enjoys rare victory at Santa Margarita - OCRegister

Mater Dei’s Grittsey Rameriz battles Santa Margarita’s Gianna Christiansen. Mater Dei was playing Santa Margarita in a Trinity League girls soccer game at Santa Margarita Catholic High School on Thursday, January 9, 2020. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)
Mater Dei celebrates their victory over Santa Margarita. Mater Dei was playing Santa Margarita in a Trinity League girls soccer game at Santa Margarita Catholic High School on Thursday, January 9, 2020. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)
Santa Margarita’s Gianna Christiansen battles for the ball against Mater Dei’s Claire McKimmey and Kate Wynn. Mater Dei was playing Santa Margarita in a Trinity League girls soccer game at Santa Margarita Catholic High School on Thursday, January 9, 2020. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)
Mater Dei’s Samantha Baytosh trips up Santa Margarita’s Olivia Guida. Mater Dei was playing Santa Margarita in a Trinity League girls soccer game at Santa Margarita Catholic High School on Thursday, January 9, 2020. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)
Mater Dei’s Grittsey Rameriz and Santa Margarita’s Olivia Guida battle for ball control. Mater Dei was playing Santa Margarita in a Trinity League girls soccer game at Santa Margarita Catholic High School on Thursday, January 9, 2020. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)
Mater Dei’s Samantha Baytosh and Santa Margarita’s Angelina’s Moschetti chase down a ball. Mater Dei was playing Santa Margarita in a Trinity League girls soccer game at Santa Margarita Catholic High School on Thursday, January 9, 2020. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)
Mater Dei players celebrate the winning goal by Samantha Baytosh (15). Mater Dei was playing Santa Margarita in a Trinity League girls soccer game at Santa Margarita Catholic High School on Thursday, January 9, 2020. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)
Mater Dei’s Leilani Alvarado strikes a header. Mater Dei was playing Santa Margarita in a Trinity League girls soccer game at Santa Margarita Catholic High School on Thursday, January 9, 2020. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)
Mater Dei’s Katie Egan battles Santa Margarita’s Olivia Guida. Mater Dei was playing Santa Margarita in a Trinity League girls soccer game at Santa Margarita Catholic High School on Thursday, January 9, 2020. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)
Mater Dei head coach Matty West shouts instructions to his players. Mater Dei was playing Santa Margarita in a Trinity League girls soccer game at Santa Margarita Catholic High School on Thursday, January 9, 2020. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)
Mater Dei’s Lauren Petroff battles for the ball with Santa Margarita’s Alexa Morris. Mater Dei was playing Santa Margarita in a Trinity League girls soccer game at Santa Margarita Catholic High School on Thursday, January 9, 2020. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)
Mater Dei’s Katie Egan grabs an arm while fighting for ball control. Mater Dei was playing Santa Margarita in a Trinity League girls soccer game at Santa Margarita Catholic High School on Thursday, January 9, 2020. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)
Santa Margarita head coach Eddie Huerta talks to his players at halftime. Mater Dei was playing Santa Margarita in a Trinity League girls soccer game at Santa Margarita Catholic High School on Thursday, January 9, 2020. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)
Mater Dei’s Leilani Alvarado battles Santa Margarita’s Angelina Moschetti. Mater Dei was playing Santa Margarita in a Trinity League girls soccer game at Santa Margarita Catholic High School on Thursday, January 9, 2020. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)
A Mater Dei fan keeps warms himself against a 60-degree chill with a soccer blanket. Mater Dei was playing Santa Margarita in a Trinity League girls soccer game at Santa Margarita Catholic High School on Thursday, January 9, 2020. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)

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RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA — The Mater Dei girls soccer team did something on Thursday that it hadn’t done in quite some time – walk off the Santa Margarita field with a victory.

Samantha Baytosh scored in the second half of the Trinity League game as the Monarchs came away with a 1-0 victory, their first at Santa Margarita in three years.

“This is always a really challenging place and environment to play in,” Mater Dei coach Matty West said. “Santa Margarita is very talented and skillful. The Trinity League is ultra-competitive. Each year, we know that every game is competitive. This was a huge win for Mater Dei.”

The Monarchs (12-1-1, 3-0-0), who are ranked No. 8 in CIF-SS Division 1, last defeated the Eagles at Santa Margarita during the 2016-17 season.

No. 7 Santa Margarita (8-2-2, 1-2-0) has now lost league matches against Mater Dei and JSerra, both teams the Eagles will likely need to defeat in the second round of league play to have a chance to finish in first place.

“It’s tough to come back from that,” Eagles coach Eddie Huerta said of the two defeats. “I’m not even going to pretend to sugarcoat it because when you play in the Trinity League, you have to get results from JSerra and Mater Dei. Those are the three teams who are fighting for it.”

In the 19th minute of the second half, Baytosh had control of the ball in front of the goal when she shot into the upper-left corner of the net, far out of the reach of the Santa Margarita goalkeeper.

Goalkeeper Megan Hogat was superb for the Monarchs, grabbing several corner kicks out of the air before the ball hit the ground.

In the 26th minute of the first half, Santa Margarita’s Gianna Christiansen got off a hard shot from inside the box. Hogat looked to be partially screened but got low and moved to her left, stopping the shot with her hands.

“I was a super-excited for today’s game,” Hogat said. “I knew it was going to be a tough-fought game. I know how they are going to play in, and so I was really prepared for what they were going to do. We went over a lot of these (plays) in practice this week. Everything came in handy today.”

Mater Dei’s victory gained added significance with JSerra’s loss to Rosary on Thursday due to a forfeit. The Lions, three-time defending CIF-SS Division 1 champions, were leading 2-1 in the 76th minute when JSerra’s head coach, Greg Baker, was given his second yellow card of the game and ejected.

Baker stayed on the field for a lengthy discussion with the referee, according to people at the game, and when Baker seemed unwilling to leave the field, the referee ruled that JSerra had forfeited.

Rosary has won the soccer game by forfeit due to the conduct of the JSerra head coach. The incident occurred in the 76th minute.

— RosaryAcademyAthletics (@rosarysports) January 10, 2020