CORONA — Is it fair that Santiago and Santa Margarita, two of the most decorated girls high school soccer programs in Southern California, are meeting in the opening round of this year’s CIF Southern Section Open Division postseason? “There’s probably different answers to that question depen ding on who you ask, but it’s what the rankings decided,” Santiago coach Mike Fleming said. “What do you expect?” With multiple section championships between them — including four previous finals matchups over the last 2 years — Santiago and Santa Margarita played to a physical 1-1 draw Thursday night in the first of a two-legged playoff series. “Once you’re in the Open Division you should expect to see high-quality players with experience, and not just high school experience but playoff experience,” Fleming said. “I mean, what, we’re running it back for the fifth and sixth time now. So yeah, there’s a legacy and there’s a history here.” The second leg is scheduled at Santa Margarita on Saturday at 3 p.m. “I think that it’s a very even matchup,” Santa Margarita coach Craig Bull said. “It’s going to come down to either a special moment or, you know, a mistake on Saturday.” Lauren Lim scored in the 21st minute to give Santa Margarita (14-1-3 overall) the lead before Jaycie Chavez equalized 8 minutes later for Santiago (17-2-4), which is unbeaten the last two matchups and moves to 2-2-1 in the series since 2024. Lim got on the end of a long free kick over the defense and into the penalty area, flicking the ball past Santiago goalkeeper Holly Liang to everyone’s surprise for the opening goal. The Sharks collected themselves and fired back in the 29th minute when Chavez was given the ball in a pocket of space near the penalty spot and scored past Santa Margarita goalkeeper Isabella Dolce to tie the match. Santa Margarita hit the post early in the second half but was limited to just three shots on goal overall. Chavez had a shot on goal saved by Dolce in the 56th minute, and neither team produced a scoring chance after the 60th minute. Two of the previous four meetings have ended in penalty-kick shootouts. Santa Margarita won 2-2 (5-2) in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 final in 2024, but Santiago claimed a 1-1 (3-1) win in last year’s CIF State Division 1 regional championship match. Related Articles Long Beach Jordan girls basketball gets hot late and beats Roosevelt LaKaila Trimble’s buzzer-beater lifts Heritage girls basketball team past Chaparral IE Varsity’s CIF Southern Section playoff scoreboard for Feb. 12 IE Varsity’s CIF Southern Section playoff schedule for Feb. 13 High school boys basketball: Scores from Wednesday’s first-round playoff games ...read more read less