Varsity 16, Esperanza 9

Trabuco Hills Girls Lacrosse Varsity officially opened its 2014 season with a non-league visit to Esperanza.

The Mustangs scored quickly on a pass from Taylor Fox to Kendall Derbyshire to open. The game seemed to favor whoever won the draw and the Aztecs capitalized on winning the next three. The Mustang defense was having a hard time adjusting to the size and speed of the Aztec attackers and suddenly found themselves in a hole, down 3-1.

A quick timeout from the coaches refocused the defense into aggressively doubling the Aztec attackers. The defense rallied with the new game plan allowing the Mustang offense to charge back into the lead through a series of fast breaks setup by long passes. Madison Dumond won 4 ground balls in the first half alone and Melanie Leong’s strong performance winning 11 of 20 first half draws contributed to the Mustangs ability to lock down control of the ball. Kendall Derbyshire ignited the first half with 5 goals and 2 assists as the Mustangs cruised into the second half leading, 13-7.

The second half started at a much slower pace as both teams began to adjust to the tempo. The aggressive Mustang defense really began to shine and limited the Aztecs to only 2 goals for the rest of the game. Any ball that hit the turf was won by a Mustang with 9 ground balls being won, three coming from Jenelle Phillips.

In the second half, the defense truly wore down the Aztecs and it showed with 9 Mustang takeaways. The highlight of the half came from the tenacious play of Taylor Fox in front of the Aztec goal. She blocked back-to-back attempted passes from the goalie forcing a takeaway. Madison Dumond then sent a short pass to Taylor Fox who fired it in for the goal.

In conclusion the Mustangs won with a solid performance marked by their aggressive defense. Final score was 16-9.

Goal scorers of the game were: Derbyshire (5), Phillips (5), Leong (3), Dumond (1), Becca Haggard (1) and Fox (1)

In goal, Cyrena Malkowski finished with 11 saves, 4 coming off free position shots.