Girls’ Lacrosse: CdM lead slips away
Playing against a Beckman team missing one of its best players, the Corona del Mar High girls’ lacrosse team had a golden chance Tuesday to stay in the Pacific Coast League title race.
The rival Patriots did not have senior goalie Claire Duchene, who sprained her ankle in a game against St. Margaret’s last week.
Duchene did not dress for the game and was in street clothes, with a walking boot on her left leg. The replacement between the pipes was junior defender Lilly Hamada, who had never played goalie before.
“We started working with her on Friday,” Beckman Co-Coach Allie Kyte said. “So two days of practice, and her first game today. Pretty fantastic. She had a great game.”
Hamada made two key saves in the closing minutes and seven overall as Beckman rallied to win, 15-13, at Corona del Mar High.
With one league game remaining, the Patriots (10-4, 9-0 in league) clinched the outright league title. They will not have to share it with CdM (9-6, 6-3) like they did last year. Beckman also had to share the league title with CdM in 2012.
Beckman beat CdM, 14-8, in the teams’ first league meeting this season.
“I think it means a lot to the seniors [to win it outright], and I think the whole team knew that,” Beckman Co-Coach Kelly Baker said. “The seniors want that legacy to continue.”
Coming into the game, Corona del Mar needed to beat Beckman and hope the Patriots lost to Woodbridge on Thursday to try to claim a share of the league crown. Instead, CdM lost that chance, as well as a possible chance to move up in seeding for the U.S. Lacrosse Southern Section South Division playoffs, which begin next Tuesday. The top eight teams will host in the first round, and CdM finds itself right on the bubble for that honor.
Beckman, which expects to get Duchene back for the playoffs, currently is ranked No. 3 in Orange County in the MaxLaxOC.com coaches’ poll. CdM is at No. 9, though the Sea Kings own wins over No. 5 Woodbridge and No. 6 Aliso Niguel. The seeding committee meets on Saturday to determine the playoff seedings.
“Sometimes I look at it and I think that we could be higher,” CdM Coach Aly Simons said.
The Sea Kings had a chance to force the committee’s hand on Tuesday. Sophomore Jensen Coop had a game-high six goals for CdM, which led, 10-7, at halftime and pushed the lead to four, at 12-8, on Caroline Bethel’s goal with 14:52 left in the game. But then the Patriots started controlling the draws and made a run.
The Patriots scored six unanswered goals, four by junior Janice Shih and one each by seniors Shea O’Donnell and Holly Woodward. Shih’s goal with 6:22 left gave Beckman its first lead, at 13-12. Her fifth goal of the game, with 2:53 remaining, then gave the visitors a two-goal advantage.
“I think we were losing the draw controls, and they were face-guarding Jensen,” Simons said. “We haven’t had a lot of practice with that this year. Once we work through those two things, hopefully we’ll use a face guard to our advantage.”
Coop tried to take matters into her own hands. She controlled the draw and scored, bringing CdM within one with 2:39 left. But a shot from outside, as well as a free-position shot with about a minute left, were both saved by Hamada. Beckman got the ball back and was able to play keep-away before senior Michaela Kyte scored at the buzzer.
Senior co-captain Mason Bendetti had two goals for CdM, while Katie McCabe, Kennedy Mulvaney, Paige Nelson and Kennedy McGuinness all added goals. Mulvaney led CdM with five draw controls and five ground balls, while senior co-captain Megan Rieden was a leader on defense with four ground balls and three draw controls. Freshman goalie Ashley Olson made six saves.
Bendetti said she was proud of the team’s effort, even if it resulted in a loss in the end.
“I think this was a huge improvement for us,” she said. “I think it boosted our confidence, in the sense that we can totally compete with these teams ... Even though we came out with a loss, I think it was a good game for us to just know that we can totally compete at that level. I’m happy with that game.”
CdM concludes the regular season on Thursday at home against Northwood. The Sea Kings will honor their seven seniors, including Bendetti, Rieden, co-captain Emily Schwartz, Brooke Beyrooty, Maddy Goon, Julia Martin and Amy Martino. Schwartz, a defender who has not played this season as she rehabilitates from a torn ACL, said she hopes to be cleared to play Thursday.
