Tologs are indeed No. 1

1 Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy girls’ soccer: Just as no team equaled its unprecedented success during the 2010-11 season, no group of area high school athletes epitomized the concept of “team” better than the Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy soccer team.

“The way our team was structured, it was always team first,” senior midfielder Alyssa Conti said. “We did so much stuff outside of soccer itself to really build team bonding and make sure we were there for each other on and off the field.

“We do it for each other, it wasn’t an individual thing.”

In addition to stellar talent, teamwork and unity led the Tologs to the greatest season in program history, highlighted by a 23-2-1 record, championships in the Mission League and CIF Southern Section Division I – the latter their first ever and the first in area history – and a runner-up finish in the CIF Southern California Division III Regional championships.

“Getting three months distance on it makes me appreciate even more the magnitude of what it is the kids accomplished,” Tologs co-Coach Frank Pace said. “To go in and beat the teams we beat, mostly on their field, really is an amazing accomplishment. There’s nothing subjective about what we did. …You just look at the scoreboard and see the scores. Nothing was given to us. Everything that we accomplished we earned this season.”

After getting as far as the Division II quarterfinals last season, the Tologs refused to be beaten in the section playoffs, blasting past Tesoro, 3-1, in the quarters before besting Esperanza, 1-0, on the road in overtime on March 1 en route to the championship game against San Clemente at Mission Viejo High on March 4.

The Tologs’ vaunted defense shut out the Tartans and claimed the Division I crown with a clutch goal from Krista Meaglia in the 69th minute for yet another thrilling 1-0 win.

“For a small school from the Valley, not from Orange County, it’s definitely not expected,” co-Coach Kathy Desmond said. “Everybody had the same goal in mind — Mission League, CIF, state. We got two out of three.”