Some say in order to be the champion, you have to beat the champion.
JSerra’s boys lacrosse team moved one step forward in its quest for a county title when it held off defending county and section champion St. Margaret’s for a 7-6 victory in a U.S. Lacrosse Southern Section South Division quarterfinal game at JSerra on Thursday night.
Mitch Kingsley broke a 6-6 tie when he scored with 2:16 left in the fourth quarter. The Lions were able to keep the Tartans at bay for the final two-plus minutes to seal the win.
“Mitch is the leader of this team,” JSerra coach Kyle Harrison said. “We went with him a lot today. We had a lot of initiating from him, and he’s a guy that we’ve given freedom to make his own decision with the ball … and he made a good play.”
Kingsley finished with two goals and three assists. The winning goal was the only score the Lions recorded in the second half.
JSerra (16-4) got out to a 6-3 lead with 3:17 left in the second, but St. Margaret’s (9-8) displayed the resolve of a champion and stormed back.
Hunter Edington scored three consecutive goals, two coming to start the third, to tie the score, 6-6, with 10:40 remaining in the quarter.
The third-seeded Lions move on to the semifinals, where they will face No. 2 Corona del Mar. The teams will meet Saturday at Laguna Hills High.
In other boys lacrosse playoff games:
No. 1 Foothill 18, No. 8 Great Oak 11: The Knights (18-1) will face San Clemente (16-4) in the semifinals after Nate Marano scored eight goals in their quarterfinal victory.
No. 2 Corona del Mar 10, No. 10 Tesoro 6: Ben Palitz recorded three goals and three assists for the Sea Kings (15-1).
In the girls lacrosse playoffs:
No. 6 Corona del Mar 12, No. 3 Foothill 11: Kendall Mulvaney scored the winning goal with seven seconds remaining to push the Sea Kings (16-4) into the semifinals. They will face Los Alamitos (12-6), which defeated Aliso Niguel, 15-3.
No. 4 Beckman 13, No. 5 Mater Dei 11: Five goals from Savannah Krause powered the Patriots (14-2) into the semifinals. Beckman will face top-seeded Capistrano Valley (17-0).
Contact the writer: amorales@ocregister.com