Varsity season ends with semifinal loss, 16-8, to No. 1 St. Margaret’s

Trabuco Hills Girls Lacrosse Varsity’s deepest playoff run ended Saturday with a 16-8 loss to St. Margaret’s at Segerstrom High School in Santa Ana.

The Orange County semifinal playoff match started poorly for the fifth-seeded Mustangs (13-7) as they quickly fell behind 4-0 to No. 1 St. Margaret’s (xx-x). A late spurt just before half made it 11-6 at the break, but Trabuco could never mount a serious challenge to the Tartans after intermission.

It was the Trabuco Hills’ programs first trip the the OrangeCounty Final Four after losing five consecutive quarterfinals. On Thursday, the Mustangs came from behind to beat host No. 4 Santa Margarita, 12-10.

“They knew that they were the underdogs. There’s no doubt about that. We played as best as we could and I’m proud of them,” Mustangs coach Scott Leong told MaxLaxOC. “Every game they played in, even when they were down, they never gave up. And we had times where we turned it around and came back. Beyond that, a lot of good team cohesion. We always kept ourselves in the game by not getting on each other.”

St. Margaret’s will face No. 2 Mater Dei for the Orange County championship on Wednesday at Irvine HS.