The Cabrillo girls’ soccer team’s 30-year path to its first-ever playoff win was anything but ordinary. The Jaguars faced plenty of adversity, especially in recent years, having gone through three different coaches in the past four seasons.
This year, Adriana Santillan took over the program and led Cabrillo to that historic victory, defeating Arrowhead Christian in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 6 playoffs.
“We’re just very excited to be here and I’m so proud of this group, who has just been fighting their way, clawing their way through,” said Santillan after the win. “This is history for the school, we’ve never been to the second round, so this is awesome. Especially with this group of seniors who have had such inconsistency and worked so hard in the last four years. To have this be their senior year, I’m so excited for them. I’m so happy for them.”
It took more than just regulation for the Jags to finally get the chance to celebrate the historic win after 80 mins of scoreless soccer. The pair stayed knotted up even through six rounds of PK’s until a save from senior goalie Stephanie Salgado ended the game in Cabrillo’s favor for a 5-4 win.
The Jags lost just one game during their non-league slate and finished the season with a record of 14-8-3. They split key games with Lakewood early in the league season to earn a fourth place finish in the Moore League that earned them an automatic bid into the playoffs.
