The Mission Bay High School girls soccer team saw its playoff hopes fade away on Feb. 20 after falling to San Dieguito Academy 3-0 in the quarterfinal round.

The Bucs were coming off a dramatic 2-1 victory over Santa Fe Christian on Feb. 18 thanks to a beautiful goal courtesy of Alison Jones along with the game-winning score in the final seconds by Gabriella Dasco.

“I thought the team had an excellent season all together,” said head coach Jorge Palacios. “Their level of commitment was there and I’m excited for the future.”

Mission Bay finished on top of the Eastern League standings (6-0-2) despite only having two seniors on its roster this season as the team ended up with a 14-3-2 record overall. The Bucs started the regular season red-hot going undefeated in its first eight matches, which included seven straight victories by a combined 30-0 scoreline.

The most convincing win during that span was a 10-0 blowout of Hoover on Dec. 16 with the toughest match coming on the first of two meetings against the Scripps Ranch Falcons on Jan. 8 that ended in a scoreless draw. Mission Bay did not taste defeat until the following game on Jan. 13 in a 1-0 loss to El Capitan, but rebounded by going on a four-match winning streak immediately after that including a 2-0 victory over the Falcons on Jan. 29.

Besides getting great performances throughout the season from its prolific goal-scorer Alison Jones, the Bucs also got outstanding efforts from defenders Mila Marzion and Mazie Weber. Mission Bay had outscored its opponents 48-5 entering the playoff game versus San Dieguito Academy with its only other defeat coming against Point Loma on Feb. 3 by a score of 2-0.

The Bucs’ final score in the match versus San Dieguito was not indicative of how it went as both teams created scoring chances for themselves but with the Mustangs, which entered the game with a 20-3 record and as champion of its league, just being more clinical on the final touch.

Photo by Steve Sidell