Other underdog stories would be jealous of this Millikan victory.  Limping into the playoffs, depleted by injury and struggling to create offense, the Rams turned to the lower levels for some help.  In the sixth minute of overtime after a scoreless regulation period, the battling and waiting was all worth it as freshman Megan Mayo’s goal gave Millikan their first CIF playoff victory in 20 years, 1-0, over Claremont.

“All I was thinking was ‘back of the net, back of the net,'” said Mayo after her right-footed strike.  “I had a dream the other night that I scored… honestly, I didn’t think I was going to get in… it felt amazing.”

Millikan played in it’s own end for most of the night.  The Rams were outshot 13-to-4 in the game and gave up four corners to none of their own, but as coach Dave Christensen put it afterwards, “it only takes one, and it went in.”

“This team deserves a lot of credit, they really came through with a great effort… I keep telling them to commit to defense first, and that’s what they did and they played their hearts out… [goalkeeper Amanda Tuiloma] likes to give us heart attacks like that last save before overtime, but she faced a lot of shots tonight and gave up nothing.  She was fantastic.”

The Rams will enjoy this one before having to see top seed Esperanza on Friday.  Millikan lost to the Sunset powerhouse two years ago in the first round.

“They’ll be very good, they always are,” said Christensen.  “We’re building a program… we’ve got a lot to be proud of.”