WESTLAKE VILLAGE — In what was a defensive struggle for most of the match, the Oaks Christian and Santa Margarita girls soccer teams finished with a 0-0 draw Thursday in the first leg of their opening-round match in the CIF-SS Open Division playoffs.
The teams will play again the second leg of the two-game series Saturday at 3 p.m. at Santa Margarita.
This is the first year the CIF Southern Section has had an Open Division for soccer, and eight teams were selected for the bracket. Santa Margarita is the No. 1 seed and Oaks Christian is the No. 8 seed.
The two-legged format will also be used for the quarterfinals and semifinals with the higher seed team hosting the second match and the winner being decided from an aggregate score of the two matches.
Oaks Christian coach Sebastian Alvarado is optimistic about the new format saying, “Our mindset is to play the same way we did today, and hopefully find a goal or two on the road.”
Oaks Christian’s defense was strong throughout the game with center backs Abigail Seawright and Isa Wieder doing a good job containing the Santa Margarita attack led by USC signee and striker Faith George.
Oaks Christian goalie Hannah Wieler had five saves, including a strong poke save on George in the 30th minute in what was the best scoring chance for either team in the game.
“I think we played hard, it was a rough game back and forth,” Alvarado said. “Both teams had some good chances, and I thought it was a good result for us.”
Santa Margarita controlled possession for most of the game and outshot Oaks Christian 11-5.
George was able to take four shots in the game, but Oaks Christian was able to limit her a little bit more in the second half. She was limited to one shot that half.
Emmie Nunez had two shots for Santa Margarita, one coming from distance that missed just wide early in the second half. Felicity Nguyen also had two shots for Santa Margarita.
“Obviously Oaks Christian, any team that is in the Open…
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