HIGH SCHOOL PLAYOFFS : FIELD HOCKEY : Serra Survives to Add Ninth Title to Collection

Dynasty has been renewed for another season at Serra High School.

The award-winning show is field hockey. And Saturday, for the ninth time in the 1980s, the Conquistadors became champions of the San Diego Section with a 2-1 victory over Mira Mesa at Diegueno Junior High.

Before the game, Mira Mesa Coach Jean Palmer said, “My team has more experience, but (Serra) has that psychological aura of having won the championship eight times. I just hope that experience can tip the scales our way.”

The scales might have ultimately favored Mira Mesa were it not for Serra’s smallest player. Junior Etheline Mendoza, 5-feet 2-inches and 110 pounds, scored the winning goal with 5 minutes 40 seconds remaining.

The goal came on a corner play after Mira Mesa goalie Betty Townsend had deflected a shot. Mendoza took the rebound and blasted the winner to give Serra (20-1) its third victory in four games against Mira Mesa (16-3) this season.

“It felt really great,” Mendoza said. “I wanted it, I called for it and I took it.”

Mendoza led Serra with 35 goals this season. She also scored twice in last year’s 5-1 championship victory over San Pasqual.

“She’s really a good athlete,” Serra Coach Laurie Berger said. “She’s really intense, whether it’s in a game, a practice or a car wash.”

The Conquistadors led, 1-0, after the first half, but Mira Mesa came on with a flurry in the second. The Marauders had 10 of their 15 corner plays in the second half and outshot Serra, 6-1, in the final 30 minutes (8-4 for the game).

Serra’s Julia Taylor scored midway through the first half. Taking a pass from Mendoza on the left wing, Taylor, who set a section record with 52 career assists, dribbled to the left of the goal and managed to get off a shot as she slid to the turf.

“The sweeper was coming after me and I was thinking, ‘Oh no, I better not whiff,’ ” Taylor said. “I didn’t even know if it had gone in or not.”

Mira Mesa tied it in the sixth minute of the second half when Sarah Hallock scored her 35th goal of the season on a corner pass from Julie Morgan. After that, the Marauders attacked with relentless pressure. But Serra’s defense, led by goalie Allison Kahn and middle defender Jennie Kohrmann, held.

In the third-place game, Fallbrook defeated Rancho Buena Vista, 1-0. Renee Trevino scored on Emma Haynes’ corner assist midway through the second half.