Varsity 18, El Dorado 6

The Trabuco Hills Girls Varsity Lacrosse team got off to a quick start vs. the El Dorado Hawks in a non-league home game on Thursday — and never looked back.

Madison Dumond on D!

The Mustangs started with a high intensity level that the Hawks could not match. The Hawks were reeling from the fast, downfield passing of the Mustangs and were struggling to hang on. However, the Mustangs could not contain their own energy resulting in dropped passes and missed opportunities.

The Mustangs got on track with a goal from Taylor Fox from a free position shot and started to build a rhythm. They quickly fired off 7 unanswered goals before the Hawks could adjust to the pace. The Mustangs challenged the Hawks at every level on the field marked by aggressive containment from Rachel Gillett, Hannah Moller and Cheyenne Ochoa. Although the Mustangs suffered from some uneven play, it went unnoticed as they bolted to a 16-2 halftime lead. Key factors to their lead were evident in all three phases of the game. The Mustangs dominated draw control winning 11 of the 18. They also tallied 11 takeaways that allowed the Mustangs to fire off 18 first half shots on goal.

All of the energy and intensity seemed to burn out in the second half for both teams. The Hawks were able to rally a bit and scored 4 goals to the Mustangs’ 2, but the damage had already been done in the first half by the explosive Mustangs. Defensive pressure on the Hawks never let up through the entire game which allowed for Cyrena Malkowski to have a quiet game in goal.

Kendall Derbyshire led the team with 4 goals, while Becca Haggard showed a knack for making plays with 5 assists. The game ended with a Mustang win, 18-6.

Goal scorers of the game were: Kendall Derbyshire (4), Marina Sandoval (3), Taylor Fox (3), Jenelle Phillips (2), Melanie Leong (2), Madison Dumond (2), Hannah Moller (1) and Becca Haggard (1). Cyrena Malkowski finished with 4 saves.

Record: 2-0 (0-0 South Coast League)

Next game: Monday 3/10, host Yorba Linda at 6 PM