UPDATE: The Lady Dons have advanced to the second round of the Southern California regional tournament after defeating Citrus Valley by a score of 3-0. Freshman Kelsey Irwin had a game to remember with 2 goals, the third Lady Dons’ goal coming from junior Kelly Bieraugel. The Lady Dons now advance to the semi-final game against Bishop Amat High School tomorrow, March 8th, at Manchester Stadium at 4 PM. A win against Bishop Amat will send the Lady Dons to the championship game at Warren High School in Downey, California.

With the CIF Championship title on the line, the Lady Dons soccer team came up with a huge win over Del Norte this past Saturday, March 3rd.  With an all-pitch performance, they shut out the Nighthawks and scored an impressive four goals for the win. After losing to La Jolla last season in the playoffs for the third year in a row, the girls are absolutely thrilled with the title.

It has been four years since the Lady Don’s won their last CIF title, and it has been something they have been working towards for the past three seasons.  Senior Betsy Muirhead was ecstatic with her team’s excellent performance this year.

“Every year we have gotten so close to winning that championship title,” said Muirhead.  “It feels amazing to win this for my senior year of high school and to win 4-0 in our final game.  It proves that all of our hard work has certainly paid off.”

Also, veteran coach Mrs.Dawn Roberts was delighted with her team’s performance,  “The girls played an absolutely amazing game and it was so much fun to watch!  I am so proud of all of them,” said Roberts.

The Lady Dons are moving on to the CIF SoCal Regional Playoffs and are blessed with being the number two seed. Their first match is today, March 6th, against Citrus Valley at 4 PM in Manchester Stadium.

The sweet taste of victory was a great gift to the five graduating seniors on the team:  Betsy Muirhead, Lizzie Stabile, Bella Vidana, Brittany Eremita, Ellie Tvedt and Monique Purner.  While these talented seniors will be missed next year, the Dons are fortunate enough to have a promising squad of returning underclassmen such as juniors Mikaela Kraus and Lindy Porritt, as well as sophomores Brittany Doan and Hannah Macaulay.

And so it is time to add a new CIF banner to the Cathedral Catholic Athletics’ collection, and maybe even a SoCal Championship banner in the near future.