By Darian Nourian
After three days of competing in the Excalibur Tournament at Yorba Linda and Esperanza High from December 27 to December 29, the San Clemente girls soccer team went 4-1 overall to claim a fifth place finish.
The Tritons (7-3-3) beat Foothill, Esperanza and Long Beach Wilson en route to winning the “Sir Lancelot” bracket in pool play.
San Clemente did not allow one goal throughout the tournament, outscored their opponents by a combined tally of 4-0, and was a penalty shootout win away from reaching the semifinals before losing to Los Osos via kicks from the mark in the quarterfinals. The Tritons game against Los Osos ended in a 0-0 draw at the end of regulation and San Clemente was edged 5-4 on penalty kicks.
In the fifth-place game, the Tritons played Temecula Valley to a 0-0 tie before defeating them 5-3 in the penalty kick stage, where San Clemente’s sophomore goalie Koryn Marsh came up with crucial stops.
Triton junior Nikki Farris led the team with three goals in the tournament, while junior Sara Sprenger also added a goal. Farris, along with sophomore Amanda Gerrain, were selected to the All-Tournament team.
The Tritons will now kick off South Coast League play on the road on January 8 against rival Dana Hills. Game time is set for 4:30 p.m.
