Girls Soccer: L.B. Wilson tops Mater Dei to win Premier title

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If there was a game after which both teams should have walked away as winners, Monday’s match between Long Beach Wilson and Mater Dei in the finale of the Mater Dei Premier Invitational was that game.

For the record, Wilson won, 1-0. It was the Bruins’ second tournament title in consecutive weeks.

Wilson was well-balanced, well-disciplined and very efficient, which is usually a product of good coaching, experience and lots of talent.

Last season, the team reached the Southern Section Division I quarterfinals, where they lost to eventual champion Mater Dei, 1-0. A lot of the players from that team returned this season. The team has six players who have earned college scholarships and more than just a couple of them were All-Moore League or All-CIF selections last season.

‘If anything, they are more mature this year,’ said Mater Dei Coach Matty West after Monday’s game. ‘They were extremely talented last year and it seems like they’ve started [this year] where they ended last year.’

Wilson will look to make it three tournament titles in a row when it plays in the Excalibur Cup. Their first tournament game will against traditional power Santa Margarita.

‘We have two titles under our belt, we’re ready for it,’ Sacha Prochnow said.

In the title game of the Premier Invitational, Emily Dillion scored the game-winning goal, her team-leading seventh of the season. That’s one more than Prochnow, who has six goals and five assists. Goalkeeper Lacey Heck had 10 saves and Danielle Russell was named tournament MVP.

As for Mater Dei, the Monarchs began the season 1-2-4, a low note to say the least.

But they pulled themselves together and got things going to reach the final of their tournament.

‘We learned a lot about ourselves in this tournament, and what we learned we like,’ West said. ‘I really feel like we are going in the right direction and we are going to be where we want to be at the right time of the season.’

-- Jaime Cardenas