Bonita Vista, Eastlake, Otay Ranch and Mar Vista all qualified for last year’s San Diego Section Division II girls lacrosse playoffs. With four of the 12 entrants coming from the Metro Conference, there was bound to be at least one common match-up: there were two.
Bonita Vista, seeded second in the division, held off third-seeded Eastlake, 8-7, in a wild semifinal playoff game to advance to last year’s division championship game.
Prior to that, the Lady Barons out-gunned seventh-seeded Otay Ranch 13-6, in the quarterfinals.
While Bonita Vista recorded a runner-up finish following a 12-5 loss to San Marcos in the title game, South County teams had definitely left their mark in the division playoffs.
There could be more in store in 2015.
Otay Ranch (11-0) entered the week at the top of this year’s Division II power rankings, followed by Eastlake (6-5) in fourth place and Mar Vista (4-5) in sixth place.
Bonita Vista (7-3) joins Metro Conference rival Hilltop (4-4) in the Division I field this season. The Lady Barons entered the week sitting ninth in the power rankings while the Lady Lancers were 13th.
Otay Ranch (6-0) leads the Mesa League standings, followed by Bonita Vista (4-2), Hilltop (4-2), Eastlake (3-2), Mar Vista (3-2) and Olympian (2-4).
Team profile
Eastlake coach Robert Blas is seeing some positive developments for his program. Among them:
•The Lady Titans attracted 60 student-athletes for tryouts — a first for the program.
•Eastlake finished third in the season opening Westview tournament (lower bracket).
This is the Lady Titans’ seventh year of existence; Blas has recorded more than 50 wins.
This year’s EHS squad features five seniors (four of whom are returning varsity players), as well as six returning juniors and three returning sophomores.
Impact players include goalkeeper Mariel Sabado, a four-year varsity starter, seniors Kasidi Lujan and Emma Drees, and juniors Sasha Thrower, Julia Masias, Abigail Mina and Payton Olson.
Blas noted the team’s junior key impact players have been on the varsity team since they were sophomores.
Key players lost to graduation include Alexyss McClellan and Gillian Stargensky.
Blas said key divisional games this season include a 5-4 loss to Patrick Henry and a 3-2 win over Granite Hills, both in non-league play.
The Lady Titans defeated Hilltop, 5-2, in a key league match-up on March 25. Blas noted it had been a “very long time,” in his words, since his team had last won a game at Hilltop.
Face-offs
Otay Ranch remained undefeated on the season after defeating visiting Bonita Vista, 13-7, on Monday and topping host Chula Vista, 15-2, on Wednesday.
The Lady Mustangs scored a key win in terms of prestige when they topped host Helix, 11-2, on March 24. Bridgette Greene had four goals in that game while Brooke Greene added two goals and one assist and Ariana Perez and Briana Gonzalez each tacked on two goals.
Bonita Vista senior Elizabeth Des Enfants has rocketed out of the chute this year with 48 goals and 18 assists in 10 games. She had five goals in Monday’s loss to Otay Ranch.
