On another beautiful Tuesday evening, the 6-2 Varsity Girls Lacrosse team traveled to Moraga to take on the 7-0 cross-town rival Campolindo Cougars. The teams split the two meetings last year scoring 24 goals each, with the Dons winning the second game via a sudden death overtime goal that sent them into the D1 NCS Playoffs. The Dons were looking for a rebound performance against an undefeated Cougars team ranked #30 in California after suffering a defeat to the other Cougars (Carondelet) on Thursday.
The game started much as the same way that the Carondelet game ended, with the team struggling with turnovers and scoring. After trailing 4-1 at the end of the first quarter, the Dons must have felt like it was an deja vu all over again. Reese Imrie scored the lone goal on a penalty shot. In the second quarter, the Dons outscored the Cougars 2-1, courtesy of two goals by Emily Roberts, with the second one coming on a ricochet with 1 second left on the clock. With that goal providing the spark, and a strategy change on the draw, the Dons poured it on in the second half, outscoring the Cougars 8-2.
Emily Roberts led the team on offense, scoring 4 of the Dons 11 goals for the game to go along with two assists and two loose balls controlled. Reese Imrie, Kelly Reidenbach, and Kate Beaver scored two goals each and Charlotte Gellman chipped in the remaining goal to go along with two assists. Grace Colaco took most of the draws, first with an offensive stick and then with a draw stick that she would exchange with Reese Tierney, securing three draws to go along with two assists and a loose ball controlled.
Kelly led the team with 5 draw controls, and had three loose balls controlled. Ximena Espinosa had two loose balls controlled. The team managed to score 11 goals for the game despite solid play from the Cougar goalies, who turned back 8 Dons shots, including a great sidearm shot from Grace C. at the end of the third quarter.
After struggling early in the game with turnovers, the defense turned it around in a big way in the second half. Reese Tierney led the defense with three loose balls controlled, while Grace Eppinger and Ruby Bogan also had a loose ball controlled. Grace E. also had a great goal saving stop in front of the goal. Sara Hession had a phenomenal game in goal, securing five saves which helped propel the Dons to the hard fought victory.
I wanted to give a big shout out to the Campo announcers. Not only did they do play-by-play during the game and announce when one of the Cougar players scored their 100th career goal, but they also entertained the fans with tunes from Eminem and Metallica to name a few.
The team looks to continue to momentum on the road as they will take on Miramonte on Thursday at 7pm
