O.C. Lacrosse Championship Finals Begin Today

Two public school teams will be seeking multiple consecutive championships while two private schools will be looking for their first title in the US Lacrosse Southern Section Orange County Division 1 Championships Wednesday at Mission Viejo High.

In boys Division 1, which opened with 12 teams, four-time defending Southern Section champion Foothill, the No. 1 seed, will face second-seeded St. Margaret’s, making its first appearance in the final since 2008. In girls Division 1, two-time defending Southern Section champion Los Alamitos, the No. 2 seed, will meet fifth-seeded Santa Margarita, making its first appearance in a lacrosse final.

In Division 2, which includes teams seeded Nos. 13 through No. 24, the boys final at Aliso Niguel High Thursday will feature Mission Viejo and Dana Hills, while the girls final will be Capistrano Valley and St. Margaret’s, the only school with two teams in the finals

Winners of each divisino will represent Orange County in the US Lacrosse LA/OC Southern Section Championships Saturday at Redondo Union High.

Here’s a look at the four Orange County Championship finals:

Boys Division 1

No. 1 Foothill (16-4) vs. No. 2 St. Margaret’s (14-2)

Wednesday, May 11, Mission Viejo High, 7 p.m.

No surprise here. Foothill has been the best team since before lacrosse became a CIF-sanctioned sport in 2007, and St. Margaret’s has been a perennial favorite. Both teams have great coaches in Jon Fox and Gerry Manning, respectively, and have produced outstanding players over the years. While Foothill, a public school in Santa Ana/Tustin with an enrollment of 2,200, and St. Margaret’s Episcopal, a private school in San Juan Capistrano with 442 students, seems to be polar opposites, the one similarity they share are top-notch lacrosse teams year after year.

Foothill is tall, tough and physical. With 31 players, including 21 seniors, the Knights can substitute in platoons and never lose a beat. They can score from anywhere, and are lead by arguably the best player in the county in Eric Adamson. The senior attacker has plenty of support in middies Josh Peterman and Cooper Pickell, and attacker Cameron Cole. Goalie Josh Giglio gives up an average of eight goals or fewer a game.

  St. Margaret’s is tough, too, but relies more on pinpoint passing and ball control. With 19 varsity players, including three seniors, the Tartans love to shoot; in the semifinals against El Toro they shot 53 times. The offense is led by seniors Mitchell Pok and James Murayama and junior Kent Iizuka, who are all under 6 feet, and sophomore Alex Waller and junior Matt Duenes, who are just over 6 feet. Goalie Brandon Suchand is only a sophomore but plays like a senior.

Just getting to the final for the often overlooked, always undersized Tartans is an accomplishment.

“It means everything,” St. Margaret's coach Gerry Manning said. “Clearly, our first goal is to win league. We are very proud of our five straight Trinity League titles in five years. This is just the next step. They are a great program with great athletes. We just have to win the chess match.”

The two teams met earlier this season, on March 15, at St. Margaret’s,

In that game, the Knights twice ran off four-goal streaks — the last within two minutes -- to take a 9-3 lead in the second quarter. But the Tartans fought back with three consecutive goals twice themselves in the second half, and with 5:12 left trailed by only one. But Cooper Pickell scored with 1:04 remaining to give Foothill a two-goal margin, and the Knights won, 13-11.

St. Margaret’s, however, did not have its full team available because several players were still playing basketball or soccer. Once they returned, the Tartans ran off nine straight victories, losing only their final regular-season game against Servite. The Knights' losses were to Northern California’s De LaSalle, 11-10, San Diego’s Coronado, 10-8, and two teams during spring break in Long Island, NY.

In the playoffs, Foothill has defeated No. 8 Los Alamitos, 15-7, and No. 4 San Clemente, 13-5, while St. Margaret’s has pulled out two close victories against No. 7 Huntington Beach, 7-5, and No. 3 El Toro, 7-6, in double overtime.

The key to this game may be in the middle, where the Knights’ Zack Handy and the Tartans’ Scott McGowan likely will take the draws. The team that controls the ball, makes the fewest errors and comes up with the biggest defensive plays will be the one that will represent Orange County this year in the Southern Section final.

Girls Division 1

No. 2 Los Alamitos (16-3) vs. No. 5 Santa Margarita (15-3)

Wednesday, May 11, Mission Viejo High, 4:30 p.m.

Los Alamitos is a two-time defending Orange County and Southern Section champion, and rode a 40-game winning streak into this season before having it snapped at 45 by Coronado in the inaugural O.C. Invitational in March. Santa Margarita had never made it past the first round of the playoffs until this year, but the Eagles went undefeated in league at 8-0 and were tough against every opponent.

Both teams have first-year coaches in Liz Connelly (Los Alamitos) and Cressita Bowman (Santa Margarita), feature high-powered offenses with player of the year candidates and have shown an incredible knack for winning tight games in the closing minutes.

The Griffins have been led all season by their two seniors, Melissa Hastie and Allie Conrad, with sophomore Emily Alpaugh at goalie. In their biggest regular-season game of the season against Beckman, Hastie and Conrad combined for a dozen goals and Alpaugh had 10 saves in a 24-15 victory over the Patriots. Proving that was no fluke, in the playoffs the Griffins overwhelmed Tesoro, 19-7, in the quarterfinals and came back to pound Beckman, 19-13, in the semifinals.

Santa Margarita has only six seniors and also six freshmen, the most of any team. The Eagles opened the playoffs with an 18-8 victory over El Dorado, then came back to edge an old nemesis, El Toro, 11-10 in the quarterfinals. On Saturday, the Eagles knocked off top-seeded Foothill, 12-10, after nearly blowing an 8-2 halftime lead. The star of the game, as well as the season, was Adrienne Anderson, who scored eight goals against the Knights, including the last two in the final 19 minutes.

Anderson is helped on offense by sophomore Lena Huebscher and freshmen Taylor Rosden and Kendra Ritterhern, while senior Sarah Talbot has been steady in the net.

The key to the game will be how well Talbot and the Eagles' defense handles the Griffins' potent offense, which has scored 17 or more goals 12 times this season. Santa Margarita won’t be able to outscore Los Alamitos, but if the Eagles can slow down the Griffins' offense, especially in the first half, the game will be much closer than the 20-7 nonleague blowout by Los Alamitos on April 14. If not, the Griffins will make it a hat trick in Orange County Division 1 championships.

Boys Division 2

No. 1 Mission Viejo (9-8) vs. No. 3 Dana Hills (9-10)

Thursday, May 12, Aliso Niguel High, 7 p.m.

Mission Viejo has been streaky all season, but after four losses to end the season the Diablos seem to have found their stride. In the playoffs, Mission Viejo won convincingly over Aliso Niguel, 13-4, as mid Spencer Taylor scored six goals, and in the semifinals the Diablos defeated El Dorado, 13-8, to reach the D2 championship game.

But will that streakiness continue against the Dolphins, who Mission Viejo defeated twice this season, 11-8 and 9-8?

Dana Hills also has been up and down this season. The Dolphins had three, three-game losing streaks and in every loss they have scored eight or less goals. They opened the playoffs with an 11-9 victory over Esperanza, and on Saturday defeated Great Oak of Temecula for the second time in eight days, 8-1, in the semifinals.

The key to the game could be the Dolphins' offense. They have scored in double figures six times this season and won all six, so if they can get enough shots on the Diablos, they have a chance to upset Mission Viejo. It’s always difficult to defeat a team three times in one year, but the Diablos have been doing it the hard way all season, so one more game wouldn’t be surprising.

Girls Division 2

No. 1 Capistrano Valley (12-5) vs. No. 3 St. Margaret’s (9-9)

Thursday, May 12,  Aliso Niguel High, 5 p.m.

This game promises to be a high-scoring battle between two evenly-matched teams who don’t play much defense. While that may describe most girl’s teams vying for the Division 2 crown, the Cougars and Tartans have stood out among the rest.

The Cougars defeated San Clemente, 17-11, in the quarterfinals as Ally Hadley and Riley Eggeman each had six goals for the Cougars, and then edged Mater Dei, 9-8, in the semifinals to reach their first division final. The Cougars are averaging 13.5 goals a game in their 12 victories. They have won seven straight games and their biggest victory was an 8-5 decision over Santa Margarita, the Division 1 finalist.

The Tartans are peaking at the right time, having won five of their past seven games of the season, including playoff victories over Esperanza, 17-8, and Aliso Niguel, 10-9, in a mild upset in the semifinals. While St. Margaret’s lost to Santa Margarita, 17-7, its last two losses were by a combined three points. The Tartans also have a pair of victories over Mater Dei, JSerra and Rosary to sweep the Catholics.

The Cougars look to have the upper hand in this final, but if the Tartans can borrow a little magic from the boys team and stay with the high-powered Cougars, they just may give the private Episcopal school another reason to cheer this season.