By Amanda Newell
Staff Writer
The Mira Costa girls lacrosse team continued its undefeated Bay League record with its win over Downey High School, 20-4, at Costa Wednesday. The team’s record now stands at 7-2-0 and its Bay League record stands at 5-0.
The team maintained a major lead throughout the entire game, as well as an aggressive pace.
“We played well together as a team tonight,” junior defensive player Noelle Claycomb said. “We moved the ball quickly, especially during transitions.”
The Mustangs held Downey to four goals throughout the game, using their rebounding abilities on shots that deflected off the goal posts. Many of Downey’s offensive breakaways were stopped by Costa’s defense, including junior Susanna Sieke’s stop of a breakaway in the first quarter.
“Our defense played very well tonight,” junior Carly McGuire said. “They talked a lot, which prevented a lot of goals. We’ve become a lot stronger and improved imensely since the OC Tournament.”
Along with the girls’ strong defense, Costa’s offense has improved since the beginning of the season. Besides scoring goals, the offense moved the ball and passed to each other throughout the entire game. Both junior Taylor Pool and sophomore Lia Sepanek contributed offensively, scoring the majority of Costa’s goals.
“Overall, our offense has been playing really well,” junior Kim Koltun said. “The only thing we need to continue to improve on is charging in and making smart plays. Besides that, we’ve been really aggressive and have passed well.”
Although the girls are undefeated in their Bay League season, they plan on continuing to improve their skills and grow as a team in general. On their list of improvements are setting up more offensive plays and picking up ground balls quickly.
“We need to execute the plays we make on offense,” Claycomb said. “We also need to continue to talk and communicate like we did tonight and be aware of what’s going on on the field around us.”
Coming off of the confidence boost from defeating Redondo Union High, one of their biggest threats and rivals, the girls plan to beat Palos Verdes High School in their Bay League matchup tonight at 7 p.m. in Waller Stadium.
“We need to play just like we did against Redondo, with high intensity from the beginning and large amounts of emotion,” McGuire said. “If we all play like it’s our last game, we’ll definitely bring our A game on Friday.”
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