Varsity 13, Tesoro 8

The Trabuco Hills Girls Varsity Lacrosse team faced a tough South Coast League challenge on Thursday at home against the defending league champs, Tesoro’s Titans.

The Titans took control of the game early and kept the Mustangs off balance. The Mustangs could not settle down play on the field and were in constant pursuit of the Titan attack. After nearly 3 minutes of play the Titans scored to take a 1-0 lead. The Mustangs quickly rallied behind a Marina Sandoval goal from a free position. This proved to be the spark that would ignite the Mustangs as they began to press the Titans in the middle of the field.

Madison Dumond and Jackie Huse led the Mustang defense by forcing turnovers and winning contested ground balls. Dumond scored the go-ahead goal on a free position shot and the Mustangs started to hit their stride. Four more unanswered goals put the Mustangs ahead at 6-1 with 10 minutes left in the half.

Erin Beall — who started playing goalie just this year — was making her first Varsity start in goal in place of the injured Cyrena Malkowski. Beall proved to be a difference maker with 8 first-half saves. At half, the Mustangs were in the lead, 10-4.

The second half marked a dramatic shift in momentum. The Titans changed gears and began aggressively attacking and marking the Mustang squad. The fatigued Mustang defense could not overcome the pressure and suddenly the score was 10-7 with 10 minutes left in the game. The Mustangs rallied and started to win balls in the middle of the field from the tough play of Kendall Derbyshire and Hannah Moller. The Mustang attack slowed the pace of the game down with short accurate passing and waited for an opportunity. Patience paid off and Melanie Leong and Jenelle Phillips both scored on free position shots to increase the lead. However, the Titans did not waver from their pressing attack. They scored again to come within 4 of the lead, but another Jenelle Phillips goal put the game out of reach.

The Mustangs (11-1) are now atop the South Coast with a 3-0 league mark after winning the hard-fought game, 13-8. Key to the victory: The Mustangs won 15 of the 18 ground balls and forced 11 takeaways to the Titans 2.

Goal scorers of the game were: Jenelle Phillips (4), Melanie Leong (3), Marina Sandoval (3), Madison Dumond (2) and Kendall Derbyshire (1)

Next: Mustangs host El Toro in a South Coast League match Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.