Aptos High’s girls soccer team had several dominant offensive players on its Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League championship team.

As good as the Mariners were at putting the ball in the back of the net, they were equally impressive on defense.

The Mariners (15-3-1, 9-0-1), who three-peated as league champion and earned the No. 1 seed for the Central Coast Section Division II playoffs, outscored opponents 78-9 in the regular season and posted 11 shutouts.Senior defensive midfielder Anahi Macias, who had five goals and two assists, was a major factor in the Mariners’ success. And her play didn’t go unnoticed. She was named the league’s Player of the Year.

“Anahi dominated aerial challenges, seamlessly connected defense and offense, and led with genuine heart and determination, making her an impenetrable force on defense,” said Gina Castaneda, the Mariners’ head coach.

Soquel, (15-5-3, 6-2-2), the SCCAL runner-up, was also loaded with talent on its veteran squad. The Knights had two players receive special honors during all-league voting.

Soquel senior forward Isis Tumason was named Offensive Player of the Year, and Knights senior defender Chloe McGilvray was chosen Defensive Player of the Year.

Tumason finished with 10 goals and 10 assists before suffering a season-ending knee injury in the first round of the CCS playoffs. (The Knights went on to win the CCS D-IV crown — the program’s first section title in school history — and reach the CIF D-IV NorCal Regional semifinals.)

“Isis was able to beat defenders with her speed, dribbling skills and her knack for scoring goals,” Knights coach Sergio Sierra said. “Not only is Isis a lethal goal scorer, but she was leading in assists before she was injured. That was a big blow to the team.”

Tumason had surgery to repair her torn ACL and meniscus following the season.

“We wish her the best of luck in her recovery period,” Sierra said.

McGilvray, who had four assists, helped the Knights post nine shutouts. She was a unanimous selection for the top honor on defense.

“Chloe’s determination to close down players were second to none,” Sierra said. “Also, her ability to anticipate plays; she was always one step ahead of her peers. She is strong, physically, and has good technical skills. Another talent is her communication with her teammates. Chloe was one of our captains and a true leader on and off the field.”

Santa Cruz sophomore Ari Flores, who helped the Cardinals (6-8-3, 4-4-2) take fourth, was named Goalkeeper of the Year. She helped post two shutouts.

“Ari has grown tremendously throughout the season, from her saves/distribution to her newly found vocal leadership role,” Cardinals coach Poul Schiebel said. “Luckily, we have Ari for two more seasons, which gives us a great foundation to make a push for CCS in the next couple years. There were other tremendous goalies in league, Ari proved each game that she was up to the task.”

SLV’s Kim Lyons was named Coach of the Year.

Aptos had three players named to the first team: sophomore forward Isabella Hartnett, junior defender Izzie Schenone, and junior midfielder Alexa Castaneda.

Soquel, Scotts Valley, and Santa Cruz each had two players named to the first team.

Senior defender Ashlyn Brady and senior midfielder Trinity Wilson made it for the Knights, junior forward Isabella Moriarty and senior midfielder Lia Lock made it for the third-place Falcons (7-5-6, 4-3-3), and junior midfielder/forward Lia Gularte and junior defender Tamar Deutsch made it for the Cardinals.

SLV senior forward Jessica Stoelting and Harbor senior goalie Athena Forbus rounded out the first team.