Senior forward Olivia Maragos scored twice to extend Ripon’s winning streak to 11 games in a 3-0 victory over a game Ripon Christian side Friday night at a rainy Memorial Stadium.
The shutout for the five-time defending Trans-Valley League champion Indians (9-0 TVL, 14-3-1 overall) brings the tally to 45 goals scored and just three goals allowed during the impressive run.
Defense travels, as they say.
“The defense was lights out tonight. We did a really good job keeping them outside of the 18 yard box. I think the loss to Ripon Christian last year really lit a fire under our girls, and it really showed,” Ripon coach Bryce Perkins said.
The defensive unit for Ripon, led by seniors Malia Locarnini and Katherine Van Gorkom, held the Ripon Christian attack largely in check for most of the first half, coming up with key clearances before the Knights could get in on Ripon goalkeeper Ellena Parenti.
Ripon Christian (4-5, 10-7-1) settled in defensively, but not until after giving up the opening goal to senior standout forward Olivia Maragos — her 32nd of the season — just six minutes in. Maragos was able to split Knights defenders after taking a pass from midfielder Madelyn Reedy to put the Indians up 1-0.
“I thought we played really hard tonight,” Ripon Christian coach David Morris said. “That is an extremely talented team, and our defense and goaltender were up for the challenge.”
The game sat at 1-0 for 59 minutes after the opener from Maragos, due in large part to stellar goaltending from both sides. Ripon Christian goalkeeper Morgan Schenk recorded 11 saves, while her counterpart Parenti came up with seven.
“We have a really good goalie, and people never really get to see her because of our defense,” Perkins said. “We have games where she touches the ball maybe one or two times, so I was happy to see her come up big for us tonight.”
The second goal of the night came on a set piece for the Indians. After a foul five yards outside the 18-yard box, Reedy blasted a shot to the upper right corner of the net to give Ripon some breathing room in the game with 15 minutes to play.
Eight minutes later, Maragos would get her second of the night on a long individual run that saw her dribbling past Knights defenders and beating Schenk once again.
“Maragos is an amazing player for them,” Morris said. “One of our keys for success on the night was to limit their number 10, and we just were unable to do so tonight despite playing some really good defense.”
For the Indians, the 11-game winning streak is nice, but they remain focused on the challenge ahead.
“We’ve had terrible disappointment in the (Sac-Joaquin) section semifinals two years in a row,” Perkins said. “Our team is packed with seniors that lived through those losses, and just really want to punch their ticket to a section final this year.”
Ripon Christian sits atop the SJS Division VI playoff rankings.
Both teams have three games remaining on their TVL schedules. Ripon plays next Wednesday home against Sonora, while the Knights will head to Escalon.
