Girls Soccer: Conti's Late Goal Carries Tologs Into Finals

As her teammates began the first overtime period of Tuesday’s CIF-Southern Section Division I semifinal at Esperanza, Flintridge Sacred Heart senior Alyssa Conti found herself in a rare position: on the bench.

Because Tologs co-coach Frank Pace wanted to start overtime with the same lineup that was on the field at the end of regulation, Conti was relegated to cheerleading duties, knowing her high school career could end without her having a say in the final result.

“I actually turned to Jillian Jacobs, and I was like ‘I want to be on that field right now so badly,’ ” Conti said. 

She soon got her chance. Pace subbed Conti back into the game about two minutes into overtime. And a minute later, she made Pace look like a tactical genius when she placed a Breeana Koemans pass into the back of the net from about 20 yards out to give the third-seeded Tologs a 1-0 win over Esperanza.

Flintridge Sacred Heart will now face No. 1 San Clemente in the Division I championship game (the game’s date and time will be determined Wednesday). San Clemente beat Santa Margarita 2-2 (4-2 PKs) in Tuesday's other semifinal.

“It’s absolutely amazing,” Conti said. “I usually start, I didn’t this half because (Pace) wanted to keep the flow of the game going. So he said, ‘You ready?’ And I said, ‘Yes, let me go please.’

“And he was like, ‘Alright, let’s go,’ and … good coaching call.”

That it was Conti who scored the game’s lone goal came as no surprise to Pace.

“She’s scored big goals for us all year,” he said. “We felt that we needed to make a sub at that position. And (FSHA co-coach Kathy Desmond) said let’s go with the senior, so it was Alyssa.”

And with Conti back on the field, the Tologs were finally able to break through against an Aztec defensive unit that had yet to allow a goal the entire postseason. The Aztecs (the No. 2 seed) had won each of its three playoff matches 1-0.

But after a slow start, Esperanza was on its heels against an aggressive Flintridge Sacred Heart attack. The Tologs forced Aztec goalie Alyssa Giannetti to make two diving saves in the first half.

“Ten minutes in, they knew that they could play with these guys,” Pace said.

Despite the constant pressure, the Tologs (19-1-2) couldn’t seal the deal against a physical Esperanza defense. In the 59th minute, Conti failed to convert a cross from Katie Johnson a couple of feet from the goal when her shot went directly at a stumbling Giannetti.

Toward the end of the match, however, the Tologs noticed a weakness in the Aztec defense that they could exploit.

“One of the things the girls said between the end of the game and halftime was look to switch it because the weak side run was there every time,” Desmond said.

And that’s exactly how Conti scored the game winner. Sarah Teegarden started the play from the left wing and found Koemans, who then crossed it right to Conti for the goal.

“The whole thing to me is a blur,” Conti said. “I know that Breeana gave me a pass and the ball came up through the entire team, I just happened to be on the end of it.

“ … Honestly, I remember shooting the ball, then I remember being on the floor with Katie Johnson and having everyone on top of me.”

Esperanza had two golden opportunities to take a 1-0 lead in regulation. In the 40th minute, a deep shot from freshman Nicole Langford hit the FSHA crossbar. In the 63rd minute the Aztecs (22-3-5) nearly got on the board when a free kick was almost deflected past the out of position FSHA goalie. Tologs senior defender Natalie Zeenni made a tremendous sliding save to clear the ball from danger.

“We knew this was going to be a tougher game for us coming here, but we travel well and these kids are special,” Pace said. “They come to play and they felt like they had something to prove today.”

And now they’re a game away from winning the toughest high school girls soccer tournament Southern California.

“This is not just the CIF finals — this is not Division VII — this is the best of the best,” Desmond said.

“It’s what we’ve been striving for all season,” Conti said. “It’ll be a dream come true for us, and I think we can do it, I really do. If we play as a team and we play the way we play, no one can beat us. I don’t think it’s possible.”