Notre Dame girls soccer is finally on top after 40 years of relegations, heartbreak and near misses.
The Knights clinched their second straight Mission League title Tuesday with a 5-1 win at Sierra Canyon.
Notre Dame (14-4-3, 9-0-1) finished the regular season unscathed in league, on a seven-match win streak and hasn’t lost this calendar year. Notre Dame’s strong season and rebuild have been led by captains and four-year varsity standouts Cailyn Paredes, Tulah Lopez and Corinne Rodriguez.
“My first two years, we were just so close,” Paredes said. “I really wanted that Mission League title and our coach always told us Mission League can sometimes be harder than CIF. So for most of us, Mission League was our top priority. And I think just these last two years, we really found what worked for this team and how we can win these games … Just building our own identity as a school and as a team. I think that’s what’s really led to our two, you know, years of success.”
The team faced challenges at every turn this season with two tough league outings against Harvard-Westlake and Chaminade. The Knights were able to blank the Eagles twice with a pair of 1-0 wins while beating the Wolverines by the same mark after a 3-3 draw in round one with Harvard-Westlake.
“We learned from our mistakes and that’s why we won,” Lopez said. “We scored early in the game, and then we took no plays off, and we ended up getting the win.”
Notre Dame opened up the season with a 10-0 goal differential before a 2-4-1 stretch challenged the Knights. However, the team hasn’t missed a step since and has not lost in 11 straight matches.
For Notre Dame coach Marcus Meakin, it’s been a long time coming to see his program reach these new heights after 11 long seasons of building up the culture.
“When I came here, it was a losing program and we had years in the Mission League where we only scored three goals and got relegated,” Meakin said. “It’s been a tough journey. The first seven years, we were up and down.”
Notre Dame will likely enter the open division tournament for the second straight year, where the Knights are ready to play their special brand of soccer alongside their closest friends.
“I think being able to talk almost every day with people that I care so deeply about, it helps us and it shows on the field, because we’re all able to play with each other,” Rodriguez said. “We can read off each other, especially Tulah, Cailyn and I, we connect very well in the middle. And I think it really shows because of how close we are.”
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