U15 Girls State Cup Finals Recap

U15 Girls State Final

FC Elk Grove 3, Marin FC 0

Woman of the Match: Alexa Madueno

In the match that rounded out Saturday’s State Bracket finals, the match between FC Elk Grove and Marin FC contrasted that of the three other high-scoring games.

Sure, this match still had three goals, but the story was all about the goalkeeping, specifically that of FC Elk Grove netminder Alexa Madueno.

Without Madueno between the pipes, Marin FC may well have run away with this final due to their strong starts. But unlike previous rounds in which Marin scored a pair of goals early seemingly every week, Madueno was there to stonewall a pair of point-blank efforts in the first half to keep the scoreline 0-0.

From there, Elk Grove’s underrated attack showed their quality, with the eventual winning goal coming from a strong run into the box from winger Keona Makasini. After beating a number of would-be defenders, Makasini was dragged down from behind late in the half, leaving the center referee with no choice but to point to the spot.

The crafty Cassandra Ceja stepped to the mark and buried the penalty in the upper corner of the goal that no keeper in the world would have saved.

Makasini’s strong runs were then rewarded in the 52nd minute when a corner kick was whipped into the near post and the dangerous attacker was able to get something on it to just push it over the line for a 2-0 lead.

Jaedyn Sanders capped a strong overall performance for Elk Grove with an absolute rocket in the upper 90 to make the final scoreline read: Elk Grove 3, Marin FC 0.