SAN JOSE — St. Ignatius has been building toward this moment for a year’s time.
The Wildcats faced Leigh in the 2024 CCS Division I quarterfinals and lost 4-1 to the Longhorns in San Jose. On Saturday, they got another shot in the same scenario.
Playing without star striker Maggie Currie, who was off with the U.S. U17 youth national team, Leigh was vulnerable, and the Cats pounced. Dominating possession for almost the entire game, SI finally broke through in the 47th minute on a cross-box strike from Amanda Hughes.
That was all the Wildcats needed, and they celebrated sweet revenge with a 1-0 win. The victory not only advanced SI to the Division I semifinals, it also punched SI’s ticket to the CIF NorCal tournament.
“That’s two W’s against Leigh in three years after losing three years in a row,” third-year SI coach Daire O’Connor told his team after the game. “So now things have shifted a little bit.”
St. Ignatius (10-6-5) emerged from the gauntlet of the West Catholic Athletic League with the No. 6 seed in Division I, earning a chance to face off against No. 3 Leigh in the first round.
Early on, it was the Longhorns (13-2-2) who generated the best scoring chance. In the eighth minute, freshman Shani Outlaw beat SI goalkeeper Maddie Lund and put a shot on goal, but defender Keira Bromwell blocked the shot at the goal line.
After that, it was almost all SI. The Wildcats dominated the ball, and it was only a matter of time before they got on the scoresheet.
“(Currie) is such a fantastic player,” O’Connor said. “Especially in the midfield there, she really makes them tick. We knew coming in today that they were without her, and that forced us to press them early and put a stranglehold on the game, because we knew they were down their best player.”
Leigh made it exciting late. With three minutes left before stoppage time in the second half, sophomore Kaya Schaefer blasted a shot from the edge of the box that nearly missed the goal, ricocheting off the crossbar and down.
With that, the Longhorns’ best chance was stopped, and the Cats sealed the win.
Leigh coach Nick Hatzke had been without Currie since Feb. 17, so he knew the challenge ahead. Win against SI, and Currie would be back in time for the semifinal round.
Instead, Leigh’s excellent season has now found an abrupt end, and the Longhorns will not qualify for the NorCal tournament.
“I actually coached Maggie when she played at Los Gatos when she was 9v9 and said, ‘One day, you’re gonna play for the national team,’” Hatzke said. “So it was pretty cool for her to finally get that call-up. Obviously, it was bittersweet, because the team’s gonna miss her. If we got past this game, she was gonna be back Tuesday. But we came up a little bit short.”
Currie, who is committed to North Carolina, will be back next season as a senior. But six Leigh seniors – Katherine Amanatullah, Tori Anderson, Kennadi Borg, Peyton Currie, Riley Jackson and Huali Liao – played their last high school game on Saturday.
“We have six seniors that we’ll miss, and we didn’t have the best send-off for them,” Hatzke said. “But we have a good, strong group that comes back next season.”
Meanwhile, the show goes on for SI. The Wildcats advance to face No. 2 Archbishop Mitty in the Division I semifinals on Tuesday.
Even in the postseason, the Cats can’t escape the WCAL. But they feel well-prepared for what’s ahead.
“Now there’s a culture, there’s a style of play coming in,” O’Connor said. “There’s an expectation with each other, accountability, effort. If we’re 1-0 down or 2-1 up, there’s an incredible attitude to leave it on the field. That’s where the program has gone. There’s a real buy-in by the players as a group.”