The varsity girls’ lacrosse team is coming off of two hard losses against Foothill and Mater Dei last week.  With an overall record of 9-4, the team gained a decisive win against Los Alamitos and continues to looks for redemption in their two final games of the season.

“I think we came out hard and took our anger from the two losses and put it to good use,” said junior Katelyn Murphy.

The final score of the Foothill game was 7-8.  Foothill’s offense started strong in the first half, scoring four goals in the first 15 minutes.  Eagle offense, led by Junior Katelyn Murphy and Senior Maddie Bush, came back with hard play to overcome the opponent’s defense.  At halftime, SMCHS was up 5-4.

Starting the second half, both teams fought for the draw and earned goals on each side.  At the 17 minute mark, Bush scored the last goal of the game, leaving SMCHS at a one goal deficit; 7-8.  No goals were scored for the rest of the game, showing big stops by SMCHS defense and goalie, Senior Victoria Hoffman.  A yellow card and stall tactic by Foothill left the SMCHS girls’ lacrosse team just short of the win.

“I was very upset [after the game],” Murphy said.  “We did everything to prepare, but there were small things that ultimately led up to our loss.”

The team had a quick turn around from their hard-fought loss against Foothill.  The next day they played Mater Dei, the third ranked team in the county.

Despite sore muscles from the previous game, the SMCHS offense started off hot against Mater Dei.  Murphy scored five goals in the first half, leaving Mater Dei surprised and panicked.  At the half, SMCHS had a substantial lead, with the score of 7-3.

The Monarchs came back hard in the second half, scoring two goals off of fast breaks and two more off of settled play.  With three yellow cards in the last 10 minutes of the game, SMCHS was unable to come back, and the game ended with a score of 7-10.

“I think playing Mater Dei right after Foothill had more of a mental effect than physical,” Murphy said.  “It was difficult to play two hard games back to back but we should have won them both.”

Two back-to-back losses in close games would hurt any team’s morale.  The Lady Eagles, however, didn’t let it stop them from winning their next game.  The team played Los Alamitos in an away game on Thursday, Apr. 19 at 5:30 and beat the Griffins with a final score of 14-4. David Woolbert