Bianca Ziemann

Congrats to the 18 student athletes who celebrated National Signing Day today!

The JSerra Girls Flag Football team is once again the championship standard of excellence, as the Lions claimed their second straight CIF-SS championship on Saturday with a 40-14 victory over the Newport Harbor Sailors in the CIF-SS Open Division Championship Game at Huntington Beach High School. JSerra closes out its’ second straight undefeated season at 28-0 and extends the nation’s longest winning streak to 56 consecutive games. JSerra surged into a 6-0 lead on the game’s second play. Sophomore quarterback Kate Meier uncorked a perfect deep ball down the middle of the field to sophomore Tessa Russell, who caught the pass in stride and sprinted into the end zone for a 61-yard touchdown reception. After the Lions defense forced a Sailors punt on their opening drive, Meier capped the Lions’ ensuing possession with a four-yard scoring scramble to increase the Lions’ lead to 13-0. Newport Harbor trimmed the deficit to 13-7 with a touchdown on the first play of the second quarter. Meier and Russell connected on a scoring reception for the second time in the half (from 11 yards out) with 30 seconds left in the half to give JSerra a 20-7 lead at the intermission. Newport Harbor trimmed the deficit to 20-14 with a touchdown on the opening drive of the second half. But JSerra once again responded with a scoring drive on its ensuing drive to increase the lead to 27-14, as Meier rolled to her right and fired a 19-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Abby Vanderweerd, who made a fantastic sliding catch in the end zone. The Lions defense stopped the Sailors next drive, and Meier and Russell once again found the end zone with a 12-yard scoring connection to give JSerra a 34-14 lead with 5:13 remaining. Senior Avery Olson produced an interception on the Sailors next drive, with Meier adding the final touchdown of the game on a one-yard scoring run with 1:52 left in the contest. Senior Stella Day added an interception inside the final minute to put the finishing touches on the Lions’ title victory. Meier completed 28-of-35 passes for 262 yards. Russell finished with 12 catches for 153 yards.

JSerra Athletics and the JSerra Girls Flag Football team extends a big heartfelt THANK YOU to @ABC7 for their wonderful preview feature on the team in advance of the CIF-SS Open Division Championship Game on Saturday against Newport Harbor at Huntington Beach High School!

The JSerra Boys Water Polo team and the Santa Margarita Eagles produced a memorable back-and-forth Trinity League thriller on Wednesday, with the Lions pulling out a 12-11 victory in the second golden goal overtime time period at Santa Margarita Catholic High School. JSerra is now 14-3 overall and 4-0 in league. Junior Christian Yonker and sophomore Sasha Bjelica powered first period goals into the back of the net for the Lions, as the two teams battled to a 2-2 tie. Sophomore Christopher Koo supplied his lone goal of the contest 34 seconds into the second period to propel the Lions into a 3-2 lead. Junior Andrew Schneider, who assisted Koo’s goal, produced his lone goal 49 seconds later to give the Lions a 4-2 advantage. Yonker’s second scoring strike with 3:08 left in the half bumped up the Lions lead to 5-2. Santa Margarita tallied the half’s final two goals to cut the deficit to 5-4 at the intermission. Junior Cal Ulicny opened the third period with his lone score to give JSerra a 6-4 lead. Santa Margarita scored three straight goals to take their first lead of the game at 7-6 with 19 seconds left in the period. Junior Ronan Keane beat the period buzzer with a near side goal to tie the game at 7-7 entering the fourth period. The Eagles claimed an 8-7 lead with 5:11 left. Senior Joe Wraith produced the game’s equalizer on a man-advantage attack for the Lions with 2:40 remaining. Santa Margarita recaptured the lead with 1:33 remaining, but junior Lars Knepper skipped a shot into the back of the cage with 0:44 seconds left to tie the game at 9-9 and force overtime. Keane’s second goal off a transition attack by Knepper put JSerra ahead 10-9 at the end of the first overtime period. Knepper powered in his second goal with 2:12 remaining in the second overtime period to put the Lions ahead 11-10. The Eagles battled back to tie the game at 11-11 with 1:20 remaining and the two teams headed into golden goal overtime. Junior Dylan Park provided the game’s decisive moment with 2:39 remaining in the second golden goal period, as he rocketed a shot from about 10 meters in front of the cage into the back of the net.