Varsity 23, Laguna Hills 6

The Trabuco Hills Girls Lacrosse Varsity on Wednesday looked to turn back the tide — dropping 4 straight contests in highly frustrating fashion — by returning to their home turf for the first time in a week. Awaiting them were the Lady Hawks from Laguna Hills High School, a squad that was dealing with troubles of their own — injuries.

Winning the opening draw, Trabuco Hills controlled the ball into the offensive zone, but a sluggish start and 4 turnovers later, the Mustangs finally broke through on an individual effort by Ashley Murillo. Laguna Hills responded to tie the score, followed by sloppy play on both sides and 2 yellow cards for Trabuco Hills. With 9 minutes having ticked off the clock and the penalty times expired, the Mustangs broke the deadlock when Jenelle Phillips notched her 1st goal of the evening.

Coming out of a time out, Trabuco Hills again won the draw and Phillips was able to thread a pass through to the Hawks’ goal mouth where Marina Sandoval promptly deposited the ball behind their keeper. On the next possession, a hard shot by Kendall Derbyshire rebounded off of the goalie right to Juliet Mooney, who was able to corral it and put it right back on goal.

After a superb start on the draws, center Shannon Smith finally lost one to the Hawks, but they were thwarted by Mustangs keeper Erin Beall. On the pressured clearing pass, the ball was mishandled and Laguna Hills was able to turn it into their 2nd goal of the game. Upon winning the next draw, Trabuco Hills carried into the Hawks zone and Madison DuMond finished off a nice crease roll for a score. Coming right back, the Mustangs were finding their stride, Derbyshire winning a loose ball and then firing a slick pass into the slot for a 2nd DuMond goal. Becca Haggard followed that up on the next possession with a long run culminating with her dropping a perfect pass into the slot for Taylor Fox to finish. All of the ingredients that had been eluding the Mustang offense over the past week were finally coming back together.

Laguna Hills attempted to slow the pace of the Trabuco Hills attack with 2 straight goals, 1 off of a perfectly executed screen, but then Derbyshire was awarded a free position which she promptly converted. Kaylyn Voytilla won the ball on a nice hustle play in the next sequence before feeding DuMond for her 3rd goal. Phillips followed that up with a top shelf laser to push the Mustang total to 10. After a Hawks goal on the other end, Phillips tallied again, which was followed up by DuMond whistling a perfect pass to Mooney, which the Hawks keeper was helpless to defend, just as the horn went off to signal halftime.

Leading 12-5, the job was not finished for the Mustangs.

Smith continued her excellent work in the center circle to open the 2nd half, winning and carrying the ball before passing to Derbyshire, who in turn delivered a sweet feed to DuMond to open the 2nd half scoring. Smith followed that up on the next possession with a precise pass to the mouth of the Hawks net, which Mooney was able to convert. Phillips then found Sandoval all alone in the slot for goal number 15. After a Laguna Hills offensive set, Kody Shelton picked up a loose ball and made a strong run down the field; the rebound off of the shot came to Phillips who quickly put it past the Hawks goalie. Next up, Smith again did good work to keep the ball alive and preserve a Mustang possession, with Voytilla potting the eventual goal. Two more quick scores, by Fox and DuMond, pushed the Mustang total to 20. After a late Laguna Hills tally, Murillo, Rachel Gillet, and Hannah Moller were able to close out the game with an exclamation point.

The return of the Mustang offense could not have happened at a better time, unless you are a Laguna Hills fan. A confidence-boosting win seems to have restored the swagger for Trabuco Hills heading into the start of their defense of the South Coast League crown — a tense match-up against Aliso Viejo on Saturday!

Record: 4-4
Next: Saturday, host Aliso Niguel