And so it went that the stage was set for the Tologs to embark on a comeback that was borderline improbable, quite positively historic and all together amazing.
Goals by Jillian Jacobs, Koemans and the game-winner from Sarah Teegarden delivered Sacred Heart a 3-2 victory over visiting Saugus in the CIF Southern Section Division II quarterfinals at Glendale Community College that has the Tologs in the semifinals for the first time in program history, avenged last year’s season-ending loss and assured that a new champion will reign in the division.
“It’s 2-0 against the defending champions, I was thinking maybe we could make a game of this,” said Sacred Heart co-Coach Kathy Desmond, whose second-seeded Tologs will travel to face third-seeded Beckman on Tuesday in the semifinals.
But the Tologs (19-1-3), who had tallied eight straight shutouts leading into Friday and had never allowed more than a goal in any game, did more than that against the Centurions (18-4-3).
Having been held to just two shots in the first half, the Tologs came out firing after halftime.
“It was the girls,” said Desmond when asked what the coaches said to the team at halftime. “They did it. They talked to themselves.
“It had to come from them.”
In particular, junior defender Natalie Zeenni rallied the team.
“Natalie gave an impassioned speech at halftime that none of the nuns [at Sacred Heart] would want to hear,” Tologs co-Coach Frank Pace said.
And just five minutes into the second half, the Tologs were on the board, as Jacobs took a shot from the left side from roughly 20 yards out that landed inside the far post to cut the score to 2-1.
Three minutes later, Katie Johnson went from right to left with a picture-perfect cross to Koemans, who tapped in a tie score in the 48th minute.
