Varsity 20, El Dorado 3

Opening Day! The cool, crisp air . . . the smell of the grass . . . er, turf . . . all things pointed to the beginning of another exciting year of Trabuco Hills Girls Varsity Lacrosse. And, by the look of things, the reigning South Coast League Champs appear determined to defend their crown.

In the first game that counts this season, the El Dorado Hawks visited the Trabuco Hills campus with an understandable cloud over their heads, having just undergone the tragedy of losing one of their most beloved teachers the previous day. The Hawks seemed intentionally upbeat during warm-ups, but their mood would be tested early and often.

After controlling the opening draw, Trabuco Hills worked the ball around the offensive zone with a calm efficiency, which led to the opening goal of the match just 34 seconds in when Madison DuMond found Becca Haggard in prime scoring position. This was quickly followed by DuMond netting her own goal after a nice pass from Juliet Mooney. Janelle Phillips pushed the score to 3-0 by controlling the draw and weaving her way through the Hawks defense and beating their goalie cleanly with a crisp shot.

El Dorado finally won the ensuing draw, but their attack was thwarted by 2 confident saves by Mustangs keeper Erin Beall. On the other end of the field, Trabuco Hills continued to press the attack. When the Hawks goalie was whistled for a foul while out of her crease, she was forced to start 4 meters behind Haggard, who immediately found Mooney for the easy tally. Kendall Derbyshire joined the scoring with a beautiful shot off the far post on the next Trabuco Hills possession. All the while, El Dorado was very tentative on offense and had increasing difficulty penetrating the Mustang defense. Goals by Phillips and Haggard pushed the lead to 7-0 before the Hawks were finally able to solve Beall for their first goal of the contest.

The next 10 minutes saw sloppy play by both squads with no quality offensive opportunities for Trabuco Hills, although the defense remained solid. The drought was broken when Shannon Smith was able to beat the Hawks keeper on a crease roll, followed by scores from Ashley Murillo and Derbyshire. Marina Sandoval closed out the scoring in the first half after a nice feed from Audie Shutler. With an 11-1 halftime lead, all of the defense should be commended, but the play of Ashly Bradshaw and Kody Shelton stood out, along with mid-fielders DuMond and Phillips dropping back to provide key help.

The second half saw the onslaught continue on the beleaguered El Dorado goalie. Goals by Phillips, Sandoval, Haggard, Sam Ransom, Murillo, Hannah Moller, and Kaylyn Voytilla pushed the score to 18-1 before the Hawks could respond, highlighted by a beautiful interception of a clearing pass by Haggard, who immediately fed Voytilla on the doorstep of the El Dorado net. One Hawks goal later, Moller delivered a pinpoint pass to Bradshaw, which she converted for the Mustangs 19th goal, then Shelton received another pass from Moller and beat the keeper on the short side to push the Mustangs to 20 goals on the night. El Dorado managed 1 more late goal before the clock ran out on a huge win for Trabuco Hills.

Final score: Mustangs 20, Hawks 3.

With 13 different goal scorers and stingy defense, the Mustangs balanced attack looks to be primed for their title defense. And for El Dorado, it may have simply been a valuable step toward moving on.

Next game Thursday at El Toro.