Santa Teresa defeated Leland 4-0 in its Blossom Valley Athletic League Mount Hamilton girls soccer finale February 15.
Andrea Fernandez got Santa Teresa going with a first-half goal, despite the valiant efforts of Leland defender Alyssa Johnson who closely shadowed Fernandez.
Leading 1-0 at halftime, Santa Teresa kept up the pressure in the second half.
“Taken, as a whole I was a lot more impressed with the second half. I gave the girls a talk during the break and they really pulled it together,” Santa Teresa coach Richard Spencer said.
The Saints continued to push the ball toward the goal in the second half while Santa Teresa goalkeeper McKinley Yeager was stellar as a final line of defense for the Saints.
Already operating with that one-goal cushion, Santa Teresa doubled its lead early in the second half with the first of two goals by Tegan McGrady.
Following her initial goal, McGrady was able to maintain the momentum with a second goal a few minutes later. On her second goal she booted in a rebound of her first shot that had been blocked.
One down side to the victory for Santa Teresa was an injury to standout McKinley Yeager who collided with Leland's goalkeeper and could not continue. Not even this however was enough to slow down the Saints, who pressed forward with an aggressive offense, resulting in a fourth Saints' goal, by sophomore Noelle Lara.
“I felt happy when we won, and even more happy that we won during my senior year, which is what I wanted to do,” MacKenzie Grialou said.
