MISSION VIEJO – The Corona del Mar boys lacrosse team went looking for a way to overcome the obstacles that had stood in its way for the majority of the Orange County final against St. Margaret’s on Wednesday.
CdM, the division’s top seed, trailed No. 3 seed St. Margaret’s by only one goal entering the final period, but it might have seemed like a larger deficit given the performance of St. Margaret’s goal Payton Fales.
Still, the Sea Kings stayed true to their way and things worked, again.
Senior Jordan Greenhall scored consecutive goals, and the second, coming with 4:46 left in the game, proved to be winner in CdM’s 11-9 victory over St. Margaret’s in the U.S. Lacrosse Southern Section playoffs at Trabuco Hills High.
St. Margaret’s led, 9-8, entering the fourth.
“We’ve talked about for weeks now and all year, it was all about playing as hard as we could,” CdM coach G.W. Mix said. “We knew that as each quarter ticked by, that we could play harder, we didn’t have much to save it for.”
CdM will face Loyola of Los Angeles in the Southern Section final on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Valencia High.
St. Margaret’s, the defending county and Southern Section champion, showed its own measure of heart and toughness, overcoming two-goal deficits twice in the first half and scored three goals in the final three minutes of the third quarter to take the lead into the final quarter.
After the pair of goals from Greenhall, Will Favreau put the game away with a goal with less than two minutes remaining.
CdM was able to keep possession for majority of the final quarter and had several players chip in with the little things that help preserve the victory.
“Those plays our kids made in that fourth quarter, when that ball was on the ground, to keep it at this (offensive) end … Ryan Meckler and those guys, did an amazing job,” Mix said. “They gave everything they had.”
Meckler was selected MVP of the game.
Greenhall and Favreau led CdM with four goals apiece. Nick Shanks led St. Margaret’s with three.
The Tartans took their first lead in the second quarter, 3-2, on a goal from Jeremy Davis. They also took the lead early in the third quarter, 6-5, on a goal from Kevin Groeninger.
Contact the writer: dcalhoun@ocregister.com