By Hannah Proctor
Staff Writer
Mira Costa boys lacrosse defeated Downey High School on Wednesday on Downey’s home turf, maintaining its undefeated Bay League record of 5-0. The final score of the game was 13-9.
The Mustangs got off to a slow start offensively and defensively, falling behind 4-1 in the first quarter. After a speech by coach Christopher Jewett at the end of the quarter that rejuvenated the team, Costa came roaring back with five unanswered goals to finish the half with the lead.
“We started off pretty slowly, but after coach talked to us a couple times we got our heads in the right spot and we really stepped it up,” senior forward Dakota Randall said.
During the second half, Costa gained a strong lead with patient offense. The Mustangs scored seven goals in the second half held Downey to only four goals.
“We’re always together, even when we make mistakes; we’re always bringing each other up,” junior defenseman Marcus Francis said. “I think we’re a pretty good team.”
The team has started slowly throughout the season and has called upon big waves of scoring to get itself back into games.
“We thought we were going to crush them, but Downey brought a good game and we had to make a lot of in-game adjustments on offense and defense that allowed us to cooperate as a team,” Francis said.
Senior mid-fielder and captain Christopher O’Brien led the team with five goals, followed by Randall with four.
“We need to be able to move the ball around on offense and score some more goals,” O’Brien said. “I really like what lies ahead for this team going forward throughout the season.”
With only six games played so far in the regular season, Costa has plenty of time to focus on fine-tuning its offense for the playoffs. The Mustangs won CIF’s L.A. County division in 2011 before losing to Foothill High in the Southern California title game.
“We needed to tighten up and play better defense,” Jewett said. “We needed to run the ball on offense. Once we did, it got better.
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