ORANGE — Mater Dei’s Andres Arellano scored nine minutes into the CIF Southern California Regional championship against Del Norte on Saturday at El Modena High School.
Mater Dei’s defense made that goal stand up for the remaining 71 minutes as the Monarchs defeated the Nighthawks, 1-0, to capture the Division I title.
It is the first regional championship for Mater Dei’s boys soccer program.
Mater Dei (20-1-3), the top-ranked team in the state, will play Everett Alvarez in the first-ever CIF Division I state championship match on Saturday, March 14, at 8 p.m. at Natomas High School in Sacramento.
The Eagles defeated top-seeded Davis Senior High School, 3-2, in the Northern Regional final Saturday.
“It’s been incredible,” Mater Dei coach Sean Ganey said of the team’s season. “We had our banquet last night and I sat down to write my recap for this season for the varsity group. I just put pen to paper, and I couldn’t even write. It was just so overwhelming.
“This has been the most incredible group. They’re winners. They’re guys that grind and are relentless and never give up. It’s everything that you could possibly want for a team.”
Arellano scored off a throw-in from Kai Cowan, who was close to the end line when he threw the ball to the center of the box.
The ball got batted out to Arellano, who kicked the ball on the ground and into the goal.
The final 20 minutes of the contest were the most nerve-wracking for the Monarchs, while also the most exciting for the fans.
Del Norte (20-3) had multiple throw-ins, free kicks and corner kicks and the Monarchs disrupted the potential scoring chances every time.
Mater Dei goalkeeper Nate Enriquez made two saves by punching the ball far away from the goal with his fists.
Del Norte’s Owen Li took a hard shot from inside the box but Monarchs’ defender Matthew Miranda kicked the ball away before it reached the goal.
The Nighthawks had a free kick from 55 yards out but the ball got knocked away Mater Dei before ever getting to an attacker.
In the final three minutes, Del Norte had a corner kick but the ball was headed away by the Monarchs’ Santiago Schelotto.
With just under two minutes remaining, Del Norte had another free kick from 50 yards out and the ball was caught out of the air by Enriquez.
Enriquez caught also caught a free kick out of the air from 25 yards out in the 60th minute.
The Monarchs also got a bit lucky in the final minutes when Del Norte had an open shot from inside the box but the ball sailed high over the goal.
“Our defense is great our defense has been great all year,” Ganey said. “That group has just been so incredible in the way they’ve defended. There is not a ball they take off. The sacrifice that they give for each and every moment is incredible. The goal is nice but when you’re sacrificing your body for your teammates and for something greater than yourself, I think that’s the stuff that wins games.”