Trending

Advertisement

Prep Girls Lacrosse: Titans rally to beat Westview, earn share of league title

Share

There was not much to celebrate for the Poway High girls lacrosse team after the first nine games of the season. The Titans’ youth and inexperience combined with a tough schedule led to a 2-7 record.

But Poway coach Sarah Spillett wasn’t worried about the results. She was more interested in preparing her team for the tough battles she knew they would come across at the end of the year.

And if Tuesday night was any indication, she succeeded.

The eighth-ranked Titans did not fluster after falling behind 5-3 to seventh-ranked Westview. Instead, Poway showed its maturity by rallying for five straight goals to beat the host Wolverines 8-5 and earn a piece of the Palomar League title.

“Early on we struggled in one- and two-goal games,” said Spillett, whose program last won a league championship in 2012. “But we were able to find our confidence as the season went on and that was what made all the difference on the field.”

It was the only loss in league play for the Wolverines, who earned the other half of the crown. Meanwhile, Poway has won three straight, including a 13-8 victory over fourth-ranked Coronado.

The Titans (9-9, 7-1) and Wolverines (10-8, 7-1) will now await the release of the San Diego Section playoff brackets Wednesday night. Poway, as of Tuesday night, moved up to No. 12 in the Division I power rankings, which are used to determine the seeds. Westview is No. 10.

The top eight teams in the power rankings will play in the Open Division playoffs, which begin Saturday. Poway looks to be headed to the Division I playoffs, which start Friday, as a No. 4 seed (check pomeradonews.com for playoff brackets).

“We are not worried about where we land in the playoffs,” said junior midfielder Taylor Jervis, who scored a game-high four goals and won a few crucial draw controls down the stretch. “We are going to play to our full potential and try not to make it our last game no matter where we are.”

Poway seems to be playing to its full potential. The Titans excelled in all phases of the game, especially defensively. They shutout Westview for the final 17 minutes.

“I am thrilled with the way our defense played,” Spillett said. “We did a great job playing team defense and sliding to the ball.”

Poway needed its defense to step up after giving up four straight goals to Westview and falling behind 5-3 with 17:25 to play. Jervis helped ignite the comeback, scoring back-to-back goals to tie the game at 5-5 with 11:03 left.

“We just knew we couldn’t put our heads down,” said Jervis about Westview’s rally. “Our team has been through a lot this year and we have had our backs against the wall before. We found a way to overcome that.”

The Titans took the lead on Isabelle Flud’s driving score with 9:55 to go. Just over four minutes later Erin Dunn found the back of the net to make it 7-5. Westview had a couple chances to get within a goal, but could not breakthrough the stingy Poway defense.

“I think I am most proud of the fact that this team had a hard schedule right out of the gate and we are really young,” Spillett said. “They went through that and built some confidence and are playing great at the right time.”

Flud finished with two goals, while Fiona Boyle and Erin Dunn added a goal apiece for Poway. Kayleigh Cousar led the Wolverines with two goals.

Advertisement