January 12, 2026

Written by Dave Smith

CORONA:  Against a team like Santiago, who has had such a history of excellence, we try to match them in effort and play to the best of our abilities. I told the girls before the game that this will be the best team we play this year, and we can learn how to play like a champion from them.

On Santiago’s pitch, the Wolves (13-4-4) squared off against the defending CIF Open Division Regional Champion. The game started with a furious King attack which resulted in five shots on goal in the first minute of the game but with no goals to show for it. Santiago composed themselves and were able to score in the 22^nd minute when a forward got behind the defense and squeezed a shot past the King goalkeeper.

In the 40^th minute, Santiago got another goal when a ball was misplayed, and the goal was left wide open.

Down 2-0 at halftime, the King girls gave up a goal one minute into the second half off a header on a corner kick. Down 3-0, the King girls continued to battle and were able to score a goal off a corner kick from Gianinna Barillas that found senior Lily Guerrero at the back post to put the shot in.

King had a few more good scoring opportunities but were unable to capitalize on them and the final score ended up 3-1 Santiago. Macey-Paige Quiroz said following the game that “it was a tough loss but we came out strong and believe we shocked them the first ten minutes with many opportunities to score that did not reach the back of the net. Ultimately, things settled down and Santiago ended up winning. We are going to go back home and work on making those ten minutes the full 80 minutes and surprise them on our home field when we play them again”.

There were some positives in the game, however.In playing a new formation against Santiago, the defenders did an excellent job. Senior captain Samantha McWaters stepped up, played a solid game, and kept her teammates organized at all times. Her leadership on the field was a big reason that the girls always felt the game was within their reach.

We continue to struggle with our consistency in our attack. We work hard to get an opportunity to score, but our shots are just not on point. We will emphasize this at practice this week as we face Centennial in a key matchup to determine who has the advantage on securing a playoff spot.

King  is now 1-1-1 in the Big VIII