Mater Dei tops CdM

IRVINE — It remains to be seen if anyone in Southern California can stop the top-ranked Mater Dei High girls’ lacrosse team this season.

But a 12-7 loss to the Monarchs in the U.S. Lacrosse Southern Section South Division semifinals Saturday didn’t stop Corona del Mar from having a lengthy postgame meeting in the northwest corner of the stadium at Irvine High.

The seniors spoke to the rest of the team, a CdM tradition. What they said was that they were proud to be part of such a talented team that’s on the rise.

“We couldn’t be happier that this was the team that we played with in our last year,” CdM senior Kennedy McGuinness said. “There’s leaders in every single grade, there’s rock stars in every single grade. We’re just so comfortable playing with one another. The strength of the team has just increased so much. I mean, we’ve had strong teams in the past, but it just felt so dynamic this year ... it was just an incredibly strong team emotionally. We had an incredible team this year, we really did.”

The No. 4-seeded Sea Kings (16-3) just weren’t able to control enough of the draws against the top-seeded Monarchs (19-0), who will play Foothill for the South Division (Orange County) title on Wednesday at Trabuco Hills High.

Mater Dei earned 16 draw controls, compared to just five for CdM. Monarchs junior Grace Houser, a Cal commit who also had three goals and three assists, outpaced CdM by herself with six draw controls.

“She’s a tough cookie,” Mater Dei Coach Cressita Bowman said of Houser.

Mater Dei junior Mackenzie Wallevand, a Fresno State commit, led everyone with six goals and also had a pair of assists. The Monarchs were missing their other future Bulldog, junior Lauren Gonzales, who is third on the team with 62 goals. Gonzales earned two yellow cards in Mater Dei’s 19-9 quarterfinal win over Beckman.

“We said that we wanted to finish the season as a team, so we had to win this game to finish the season out with her,” Bowman said. “We also told the other girls that they needed to step up and fill that role, and I think that they did a good job of that.”

The Sea Kings also had similar motivation. They were playing without their leading scorer, junior Jensen Coop, who also had two yellow cards in the previous round.

“Of course we missed Jensen’s presence,” CdM Coach Aly Simons said. “Not only did we miss her skills, we missed her intensity, but the girls made it their priority to play for Jensen. They worked real hard to try to get us that next game so Jensen could be out there. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen.”

CdM never led, but still gave Mater Dei a good game. The Sea Kings closed to within 4-3 with 10:08 remaining in the first half, when senior co-captain Paige Nelson scored on a free position shot. But Wallevand extended the lead when she intercepted an outlet pass and scored, then added another goal on a free position with 6:45 remaining in the half.

CdM had chances to draw closer again late in the half. Kennedy Mulvaney dished to Nelson, whose shot was off the goal post. The Sea Kings kept possession, though, and played for the last shot of the half.

But, with 34 seconds left, CdM was called for a crease violation and gave up possession. Wallevand made CdM pay, running inside and scoring with two seconds left to give Mater Dei a 7-3 halftime advantage.

Nelson, who led CdM with two goals, scored her second to open the second half from a tough angle. She fell down but found the back of the net, yelling out in exultation after narrowing Mater Dei’s lead to 7-4. But Mater Dei added a goal from Maddi Hooks, assisted by Houser, then Wallevand found Houser cutting inside for a goal. The lead was back to 9-4 in just 90 seconds, forcing CdM to call timeout with 22:25 remaining in the game.

The Sea Kings didn’t get closer than five goals the rest of the way, but played hard until the final whistle.

“You wouldn’t have known it was a five-point spread in the last 30 seconds,” Simons said. “The girls were playing like it was a tied game. That’s what we’re owning, and that’s what we’re so proud of them for.”

Caroline Bethel, Ellery Amdor, Mulvaney and Katie McCabe also scored for CdM, part of a strong game for McCabe overall as she had two caused turnovers and three ground balls. The latter total tied her for the team lead with Mulvaney and junior defender Hailey Neumann.

Defenders Katherine Mulvaney and Joslyn Simaan also had two caused turnovers for CdM, and sophomore goalie Ashley Olson made 11 saves, her third straight double-digit save total in the postseason.

Nelson, one of four senior co-captains along with McGuinness, Courtney Johnston and Lauren Grable, said she was proud that CdM was able to make the game competitive. Mater Dei had beaten the Sea Kings by 10 goals, 14-4, in a nonleague game early in the season.

“We left it out there, for sure,” Nelson said. “Each one of us played as hard as we could, and that’s why we gave them a run for their money ... We were working for our team no matter what.”