The season has been long and a lot of hard work was put in, but it is all worth it for Miramonte, who beat Cardinal Newman 2-2 (5-4 PKs) on Friday night to be crowned the 2024 North Coast Section Division III champions.

A hard fought battle, the Matadors kept things close all game long and after falling down 1-0 in the first half after Cardinal Newman star Abelle Hunter scored in the 37th minute, stepped up their energy and looked like a new team the rest of the way.

"It gave us that fire," sophomore Sadie Leal Schuman said. "We're not a team that likes to lose. We only lost one game in our entire season and I think that we are an amazing team when it comes to coming back after getting scored on. And we did a great job bringing the energy and just keeping that energy up and keeping our heads up no matter what."

With the Matadors down going into halftime and in need of a spark, they came back out in the second having flipped a switch as Madyson Yu scored an unassisted goal from deep to tie the match up at 1-1.

From then on, the match became neck and neck again with both sides keeping it close and making it tough. However, on a 72nd minute Matadors offensive possession, a handball was called on Cardinal Newman in the box, awarding them a penalty that made way for sophomore Schuman to take the shot. Stepping up to the ball, Schuman took a deep breath, delivered a perfect strike on the ball and made it to give the Matadors a 2-1.

"It's just practice, practice, practice," Schuman said. "I've been practicing those PKs ever since I was young. I'd go out on weekends, I'll spend an hour just going PKs for that very moment. So my hard work paid off. And after I shot it, I was so excited. We took the lead and it was just a rush of emotions. It's something that you can never get back."

Newman had other plans however. The very next possession, the Cardinals scored another goal to tie the match up at 2-2 in the 73rd minute and with the match still tied, overtime ensued. After two periods and no goals scored, the game went into penalty kicks.

Penalty kicks proved to be another close battle as both teams were going back and forth. After five shots each and the match still tied, it moved to one and one which meant that the first team to make a shot after an opponent missed would automatically win. After Cardinal Newman missed a key penalty, senior Shauna Lindheim got a chance to take a kick and after striking the ball perfectly, bagged the title clinching goal to send the Matadors home as the winners.

"Walking up, I knew that we could win the game if I made that shot," Lindheim said. "I was just trying to stay calm, stay cool and collected and make sure I got the ball in the back of the net."

Winning the section title, the Matadors not only earned glory for their school but have come a long way since having an 0-10 league record two years ago.

"It feels amazing," Lindheim said. "We went from two years ago having an 0-10 season to now being the D-III NCS champions. I've truly seen this program transform and it's amazing as a senior to see that happen."

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