TUSTIN With under 10 seconds to play in a girls U.S. Lacrosse Southern Section South Division second-round playoff game, Corona del Mar’s Kendall Mulvaney found herself behind the goal with the ball and the game tied at 11.
Mulvaney circled back around to the front of the net, dodged a couple of Foothill defenders and skipped a goal past the Knights’ keeper with seven seconds to play, giving the No. 6 Sea Kings the win over No. 3 Foothill, 12-11, on Thursday evening at Tustin High.
Corona del Mar advances to Saturday’s U.S. Lacrosse semifinals against No. 2 Los Alamitos in a 3 p.m. game at Laguna Hills High.
CdM coach Aly Vislocky said in order to beat a team like Foothill, you must be able to stop them.
“We practiced a lot of the things that we thought would help us beat Foothill,” she said. “And number one was defense, defense, defense.”
The defense, especially goal keeper Kate Allen, was on point in the first half.
CdM (15-4) held Foothill (15-3) to just four goals in the opening 25 minutes, while Allen made seven saves to help take a 5-4 lead into halftime.
“Kate played a great game,” Vislocky said. “There are no weak links in our defense.”
Foothill got things rolling on the offensive end in the second half, going on a 3-0 run after falling behind 6-4 early in the second after CdM’s Sabrina Smith scored at the 23:50 mark of the half.
Julia Taylor, Claire Healy and Meridian Lee capped the three-goal spurt that gave Foothill a 7-6 lead with 16:42 to play – its first lead of the game.
The Sea Kings answered with a 3-0 run of its own on two goals from Mulvaney and one from Smith, helping CdM retake the lead, 9-8, with 13:29 to play.
Both teams went back-and-forth before CdM took an 11-10 lead on a steal and goal from Payton Carter with 3:04 to play with a two-player advantage after Foothill was called for back-to-back penalties.
The Knights weren’t done, though, as Carly Naud drew a foul and was awarded an eight-meter free position with 40 seconds left.
Naud missed the shot, but picked up the rebound and fired it past Allen to tie the game at 11 before Mulvaney’s game winning goal.
Vislocky said the difference between this years’ CdM team and ones of years’ past is versatility.
“Every single player out there is giving assists, scoring, and setting each other up,” she said.
Smith finished with team-high four goals, while Mulvaney finished with three. Allen made 12 saves for CdM.
Taylor finished with a game-high six goals for Foothill, while Naud and Lee each finished with two goals.
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