Drama builds as Santa Margarita girls win again

ALISO VIEJO - It has been a historic playoff run for Santa Margarita's girls lacrosse team.

The Eagles knocked off top-seeded Foothill, 12-10, on Saturday at Aliso Niguel High to advance to the finals of the Southern Section South Division playoffs for the first time in school history.

Until this year, the Eagles hadn't made it past the first round of the U.S. Lacrosse Division 1 championships.

Santa Margarita has had some close calls on the way to the Division 1 finals. The Eagles defeated El Dorado in the first round, 18-8, and then slipped past El Toro, 11-10, in the second round.

The Eagles will face Los Alamitos in the Division I South Division championship on May 11 at Mission Viejo High. Los Alamitos defeated Beckman, 19-13, in the other semifinal.

“I think going into today, the girls were a little scared,” Santa Margarita coach Cressita Bowman said. “The girls have never gone this far … I told them (Friday), any team is beatable on any given day and that they are a good team and are here for a reason.”

The Eagles swept through the Trinity League, going a perfect 8-0 to claim the school’s first league title.

Saturday, Santa Margarita was led by junior midfielder Adrienne Anderson, who scored eight goals and commanded the Eagles to an 8-2 lead at halftime.

Foothill unleashed a scoring spree to start the second half, going on a 6-2 run to cut the lead to 10-8.

With her team struggling to rekindle the fire it displayed in the first half, Anderson took over and scored two goals in the game’s final 19 minutes.

“We had to go in there with nothing to lose and we just laid it all out there,” Anderson said.