The girls lacrosse team swept past the Los Gatos Wildcats in a powerful 16-10 win on Friday evening.
M-A struck first, winning the faceoff to allow sophomore midfielder Jane Pence to score and give the Bears a 1-0 lead just a minute in. M-A doubled their advantage when senior defender Kelsey Gardner scooped up a loose ball and raced through the defense to finish clinically in the bottom corner to make it 2-0 with 9:20 in the quarter.
Despite the Bears’ early momentum, the Wildcats fought back, scoring two goals to tie the game up at 2-2 with 7:01 remaining in the quarter. The contest remained back and forth, with both teams getting chances to score. However, Los Gatos capitalized on M-A’s turnovers, scoring twice to give the Wildcats a 4-2 advantage.
With 42 seconds remaining in the first quarter, senior midfielder Mae Kunihiro gathered the ball off the draw and charged toward the net before sending a firing shot past the Los Gatos goalkeeper. This kept the game tight, with the Bears trailing 4-3 at the end of the first.
Despite their deficit, M-A came into the second quarter swinging, winning the draw and scoring right away to tie the game up, 4-4. On the very next play, Kunihiro collected the ball before teeing up Pence in the arc for the finish, turning the game around to 5-4 only 40 seconds into the quarter. The Bears started to find their flow offensively, dominating possession of the ball through patient passing. Even with M-A’s pressure, they were kept out by the Wildcats’ last-ditch defending.
This stalemate didn’t last long, as junior attacker Lucy Gostyla snapped a shot toward the net that deflected off the Los Gatos goalkeeper with 6:44 left in the quarter. Senior attacker Bailee Van Loben Sels was the first to react, scooping up the ball and putting it away to set the score at 6-4. The Bears found the net again, 7-4, only a minute later.
Los Gatos responded with a goal of their own, scoring off a wrap-around. Still, M-A’s offense continued to put pressure on the Wildcats with solid ball movement and shots, but Los Gatos managed to keep the Bears out. The Wildcats’ defense remained strong and prevented the Bears from pulling away as the second quarter closed 7-5 in favor of M-A.
“After this first quarter, we really picked it up. In the first quarter, we were really sloppy,” sophomore attacker Lindsay Lemberger said.
Starting off the third quarter on a high note, the Bears won the opening faceoff and scored. On the next play, Kunihiro built on this by taking possession and passing it off to Van Loben Sels, who drilled a shot into the net with 10:32 in the quarter. However, the Wildcats came back with a response, finishing a shot of their own just a minute later to bring the score to 9-6.
Senior attacker Ellie Dillon created M-A’s next goal as she lost her defender with a spin move, then blasted a shot into the back of the net. The Bears didn’t stop there, as junior midfielder Aryn Roodman soon scored with a swift shot to drive the total up to 12-6. M-A remained disciplined on defense, not allowing Los Gatos to break through and get looks on goal.
Despite this, Los Gatos managed to get a goal off a penalty shot to end their scoring drought with 2:47 remaining. The Bears stayed relentless, answering with a well-aimed shot into the top right corner from junior attacker Iliana Narvaez. Finally, Lemberger closed the quarter with a close-range effort that found the net to increase their lead to 14-7.
Kicking off the fourth quarter, Los Gatos secured the ball out of the gate in an attempt to make a move offensively. The Wildcats capitalized on this, scoring off a penalty just two minutes in to make it 14-8. Los Gatos began to put some pressure on the Bears as they scored another goal, narrowing the gap to 14-9 with 9:23 remaining.
“I think we’re the better team, and if they get one [goal] we just got to get one more,” Lemberger said.
M-A leveled up their intensity as Los Gatos tried to catch up. Senior defender Molly Gray raced past the Wildcats’ defense before passing it to sophomore midfielder Ella Altman, who drew a foul. Altman slotted her penalty away with a bouncing shot, giving the Bears a comfortable 15-9 advantage. Los Gatos made one last push, scoring their last goal of the game to bring the total to 15-10. Even so, Lemberger closed out the game with a final goal off a well-placed penalty shot.
M-A strategically drained the clock for the last remaining minutes, ending the game with a commanding 16-10 victory for the Bears.
“I think communication [helped us win]. During our quarters and halftime breaks, we had really good conversations about what we needed to improve on, and it allowed for everything to run smoothly on the field in every area,” junior defender Avery Williams said.
The Bears will go on the road to play the Sequoia Ravens on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
