Los Alamitos extends reign in Southern Section

MISSION VIEJO – Los Alamitos' girls lacrosse team added another trophy to its collection Saturday, defeating Palos Verdes, 19-9, to capture the U.S. Lacrosse Division 1 Southern Section championship.

The Griffins, who won their fourth consecutive county title on Wednesday, earned their fourth consecutive Southern Section crown.

“We came out in the first half and did really well,” Los Alamitos Coach Liz Connelly said. “The girls played their hearts out and they won the draw controls which is what we said, ‘possession wins the game.’ They did that, they worked their butts off.

“It’s awesome. We’re pretty focused, game by game, year by year."

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OCVarsity Hot Shots: Southern Section lacrosse finals

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Los Alamitos (18-2) was led by Keaton Otake, who scored four goals and Jenny Lange, who had three goals. Julie Crowell and Bailey Brannon each added two goals for the Griffins. Becca Golding scored five goals to lead Palos Verdes (15-3).

Los Alamitos didn't have its usual lineup when it took the field for the start of the game.

Many of the Griffins' starters were benched for the first half for disciplinary reasons. Connelly did not indicate what happened, but said she and school administrators made the decision.

Los Alamitos players were not allowed to talk to the media after the game.

Most of the starters were on the field in the second half.

“They broke the rules, so when you break the rules, you pay the consequence,” Connelly said. “Yesterday they broke my rules and today they sat out the first half. I establish expectations at the beginning.”

Los Alamitos showed its depth at the start. Brannon and Jenny Lange had two goals each in the opening 10 minutes, helping the Griffins jump to a 7-2 lead with 13:37 left in the first half.

Los Alamitos led at halftime, 8-5, and moved out to a 16-6 lead with 9:10 remaining in the game.

“I’ve been saying it all year that we have 24 girls who are top players in this county, and today we were lucky enough to pull up (from lower-level teams) five more, so we made it 29 awesome players who got to play today,” Connelly said.