Four years ago, the Coastal Academy girls soccer team began laying the foundation for a successful program with three freshmen — Savannah Benjamin, Daniella Bauzo and Rylee Baca — as the building blocks.

Now, Benjamin, Bauzo and Baca are the senior leaders on a rising program that will compete Friday for the inaugural CIF state girls soccer title in Division 5.

The Stingrays (18-4-2) play at 10 a.m. against San Francisco Lowell (13-2-0), the No. 1 seed from Northern California, at Natomas High School in Sacramento.

“It has been remarkable,” said Stingrays coach Chad Dodd. “(Benjamin, Bauzo and Baca) started when we started this. When we started the program, we were 0-16. Within a couple years, we’ve been able to turn it around. It’s all because of people like them helped us build this program through their consistency and hard work.”

Entering this season, Benjamin, Bauzo and Baca were part of a team that wanted to compete for a San Diego Section title after settling for a runner-up finish in 2025.

“We already knew we were wanting to compete for the CIF San Diego finals because we were there last year,” said sophomore Janelle Contreras. “I don’t think any of us could have expected us to go this far.”

The Stingrays made their way through the Division 5 section playoffs as the No. 1 seed, securing their first section title after a 1-0 win over Preuss UCSD.

In the SoCal Regionals, the Stingrays went from hosting three consecutive games to traveling for three straight as the No. 8 seed.

They traveled to Huntington Beach and took down top-seeded Ocean View 1-0. Two days later, they traveled to Los Angeles and defeated No. 5 Bravo 3-0 before beating No. 3 Delano Kennedy 2-0.

“We really persevered through it, and we’ve gotten the rest we’ve needed,” junior Ella Anderson said of the travel. “We’ve practiced as we needed to be able to travel to these games and be at our best level to compete.”

Coastal Academy’s defense has fueled its playoff run. Dodd’s team hasn’t given up a goal since its first postseason game on Feb. 19.

“I feel like our defense has had a lot of opportunity to grow,” said Anderson, who plays on the back line of a team that has 20 shutouts. “We became really good at communicating with each other and reading up the field on through balls.”

Coastal Academy, which opened in 2017, is based in Oceanside and has an enrollment of 876.

The team has needed to overcome some obstacles, including not having a field on campus and scheduling field time through the City of Oceanside.

The Stringrays played the bulk of their home matches at the sprawling SoCal Sports Complex in Oceanside.

The adversity wasn’t limited to facilities. Goalkeeper Malia Ryan, who had 56 saves and 17 goals against, suffered an ankle injury before the playoffs. She was replaced by Julie Sesno, who has posted clean sheets in five of six playoff games.

“Seamless is the right word,” Dodd said of Sesno’s transition. “When you watch her play, you would think that she’s been doing this for a while. It seemed natural for her, even though she hasn’t been a goalkeeper. Her understanding of the way the keeper should operate with the back line has allowed her to be very successful.”

And Coastal Academy’s offense is flying high. Five players have scored more than 10 goals this season: Janina Contreras (21), Sunday McDuffee (18), Janelle Contreras (15), Ella Rondo (13) and Olivia Merkey (12).

Janina and Janelle Contreras are twins. Combined, they’ve posted 36 goals and 26 assists this season.

“The team has helped me incredibly, giving me opportunities to score,” Janina Contreras said. “This whole team works really hard.”

Now, the Stingrays have a chance to make school and state history.

“I want the girls to embrace the moment,” Dodd said. “We’re going to go out and try to play our best version of soccer.”

CIF state soccer championships

When: Friday and Saturday

Where: Natomas High School, Sacramento

Division 5: Oceanside Coastal Academy (18-4-2) vs. San Francisco Lowell (13-2-0), 10 a.m. Friday

Streaming: All matches live on the NFHS Network.

Trends: Coastal Academy is 10-0-1 over its last 11 matches, allowing just two goals during that stretch. The Stringrays have outscored their opponents 117-30. … After losing its first two matches of the season, Lowell has won 13 in a row, outscoring its opponents 44-4.

Rankings: Coastal Academy is ranked No. 279 in the state. Lowell is No. 53.