MA TOPS BRANSON IN D-II SHOWDOWN - Marin Independent Journal

GIRLS SOCCER

MA TOPS BRANSON IN D-II SHOWDOWN

Wildcats win 1-0, increase odds of top seed in section playoffs

Marin Academy’s Kacy Walker eyes the goal as Branson’s Riley Pearson follows on Saturday in San Rafael. Marin Academy won 1-0. Marin Academy’s Blythe DeGooyer and Cece Dickinson are at left. PHOTOS BY FRANKIE FROST — SPECIAL TO THE MARIN INDEPENDENT JOURNAL

Branson’s Sophia Duran and Marin Academy’s Tatum Colpitts battle for a header on Saturday in San Rafael. Marin Academy won 1-0.

Marin Academy’s Raya Leikin and Branson’s Riley Pearson play the ball on Saturday in San Rafael.

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By Ian Ross

iross@marinij.com

The Marin Academy girls soccer team came into its last game of the regular season on Saturday against The Branson School with another BCL West title already under its belt. There was still some unfinished business to take care of — namely trying to lock up the top seed in the North Coast Section Division II playoffs.

MA and Branson entered as the top two ranked teams in D-II — in that order. The Wildcats took a big step toward securing the top seed when Kacy Walker scored in the 63rd minute for a 1-0 home victory.

“I hope so,” MA coach Sarah Rafanelli said of securing the top seed. “It goes into that magic box and they have their algorithms and they figure out all that stuff. For us, it’s a big game because it’s such a fun rivalry. All the kids know each other. They grew up going to school together and playing on the same clubs — whether in soccer or other sports — so it’s a fun, great rivalry and you can tell from the game. It was so evenly matched.”

The decisive moment came after Branson had carved out a number of good chances over the first 20 minutes of the second half.

MA (16-1-1) was awarded a free kick about 25 yards from goal and Raya Leikin served a dangerous ball into the 18-yard box. Reese Goodenough headed the ball back across the face of goal where both Walker and Addie Leary were crashing to try to tap the ball into the net. Walker ended up getting a touch on it to put MA in front 1-0.

“It was a great service by Raya,” Walker said. “It was a great look to try to chip someone in — great ball speed. Reese had a great cross over and I was kind of just right in the goal and tapped it in.”

Walker, who was filling in at center back instead of playing her usual role as the holding midfielder, also played a big role in helping MA shut out Branson and see out the win.

“Since we’re in the BCL league, it’s kind of hard to compare ourselves to other teams in Marin just because we’re not in the MCAL league,” Walker said. “Playing a team like Branson, who are definitely our top out-of-league rivals, it’s a big highlight for the season because the last time we played them was in the NorCal final [two years ago]. It definitely was a lot of nerves going into the game but coming out on top just proves to our team that we can do it and gives us confidence going into the NCS.”

MA has won 12 consecutive games dating back to a 2-1 loss against Tam on Dec. 20. The Wildcats also posted victories against Terra Linda, Redwood, and Marin Catholic and played Archie Williams to a draw.

MA’s goal on Saturday came a few minutes after Branson (16-4-2) enjoyed its best stretch of the game, creating numerous chances between the 50th minute — when Catrin Howell grazed the crossbar with a shot from the right wing — and the 59th minute, when Howell’s shot from a similar range was saved by MA goalie Aggie Robinson.

“For us, I was very pleased with the way the girls fought, the number of chances we created second half,” Branson coach Tyler Gottschalk said. “If you create that many chances, often times you will get a goal. Maybe it’s enough to win, maybe it isn’t, but definitely encouraged by the quantity of chances that we were creating and just hope that next week we take a few of them and can make a run in the playoffs.”

Sophia Duran also created a pair of chances during the stretch of the game for Branson, making strong runs on the left side of the field to the end line before serving dangerous crosses into the box. Robinson came off her line to intercept the first cross from Duran. Whitney Collet got off a shot on Duran’s second cross but the shot went just wide.

“This was a really important game for us even though it was non league because we know we’re going to be seeing (Branson) again,” Leary said. “We knew we had to get this win to put us in that top seed and give us that extra confidence that we needed.”