Charlotte Swisher, your team just won the West Bay Athletic League girls lacrosse championship and you scored three goals. Where do you go next? “We’re going to the Creamery to get some milkshakes,” she said.
And so it was that the Knights rode off with a 10-5 victory over Sacred Heart Prep on Saturday night at Palo Alto High, giving Menlo coach Liz Schaeffer, who helped turn USC into a lacrosse powerhouse, her second league championship in as many years as a head coach.
“We knew it was going to be a really intense game,” said Schaeffer. “I was coming in here ready for overtime. I didn’t expect a spread like that, they really blew me away with the way they were putting the ball away tonight.”
It looked promising for the Gators early in the first half. Allison Carter sprinted through the defenders and scored as Sacred Heart went up, 1-0, within the first 30 seconds. Carter and Ingrid Corrigan led the Gators, each with two goals.
Six minutes later, Swisher set up for a penalty shot. The junior made her way through two Gator defenders and slammed it home, tying the game at 1-1. The Knights scored five times on penalties by Sacred Heart defenders.
“I’ll take them,” said Schaeffer large amount of the penalties. “As long as we capitalize and put them in the back of the net.”
It was back-and-forth between the teams for the first 15 minutes, Sacred Heart took a 3-2 lead on an unassisted goal from Corrigan. The junior was solid and finished with two goals in six attempted shots.
It was all Menlo after the Corrigan goal. The Knights lit an offensive fire and went on a 6-0 run. Abby Wolfenden and Swisher each scored twice during the run. Menlo took an 8-3 advantage into halftime.
“Her (Swisher) and Bella (Scola), I think them just digging in the midfield and coming with those 50/50 plays, they don’t let them be 50/50. That’s the difference and that’s why we saw those goals there,” said Schaeffer.
The Knights kept their foot on the pedal coming out of halftime. Sophomore Kendall Weingart took all of 20 seconds to score. She received a pass from junior Sophia Scola and whipped it through the back of the net and the Knights took control at 9-3.
With just under 20 minutes left in the game, Scola juked defenders and hit the back of the net to add to the lead.
The Gators answered with goals from Carter and Grace Johnson, but it wasn’t enough as the Knights held on to win.
“I think we were just really close as a team this year,” said Swisher, talking about how this year’s team differs from last year. “We all love being with each other.”
“We’re a lot less selfless,” said Schaeffer. “They have all these little inside things that keep them close together. The juniors and seniors made sure that everybody was welcome and everybody was tight-knit. I think that really shows on the field; they had that level of trust.”
Gunn scores a dramatic victory
Grace Williams scored with just over a minute to play and the Gunn defense came up huge over the final 17 minutes as the Titans defended their Santa Clara Valley Athletic League title, beating Palo Alto 10-9 Saturday morning morning at Saratoga High.
Palo Alto (13-7), fresh off its stunning upset of Los Gatos, led for most of the game. The tide turned when Gunn’s defensive effort intensified, especially from freshman goalie Lauryn Nakamitsu, who made five saves in helping keep Paly out of the net over the final 17 minutes of play.
Amit Blum, Sydney Hetzel, Julia Stoneburner and Anna Tsai provided strong efforts in recording ground balls and caused turnovers. Laurel Comiter and Jeni Chen led the midfield attack with a combined eight draw controls.
Ellen Goncher, Emma Staiger and Lia Salvatierra were key to Paly’s offensive prowess throughout the contest. The Viking scored the game’s first two goals and were up by as many as four goals before Becca Chapman, Emily Axtell, Comiter and Williams helped cut the lead to 7-5 at the half.
Palo Alto struck quickly to open the second half before the Titans (17-5) sealed the leak permanently.
Comiter and Chen scored to tie the game at 9, setting up Williams’ game winner. She took a perfect pass from Andrea Garcia-Milla, cut across the middle and scored.
Sabrina Dahlen, Chapman, Comiter and Williams each scored twice for Gunn. Axtell and Chen also scored. Garcia-Milla had three assists.