Girls lacrosse preview: Los Alamitos vs. Santa Margarita

Los Alamitos' girls lacrosse team gets a shot to win its third consecutive U.S. Lacrosse Division 1 South title on Wednesday.

The No. 2-seeded Griffins (17-3) will face a Santa Margarita team that has been the surprise of the playoffs in the championship game at 4:30 p.m. at Mission Viejo High.

Santa Margarita (15-4) defeated top-seeded Foothill, 12-10, to reach the title game.

Santa Margarita, shooting for its first title, entered the playoffs as the fifth seed.

"Santa Margarita is a team filled with determination and heart," Los Alamitos coach Liz Connelly said.

"They play with that nothing to lose mentality and can catch a lot of teams off-guard in that way. Their transition is fast - pushing the ball into the attacking end and riding the ball well on defense.

"They are great off the draw and able to put the ball in the net quickly and often. They will be awesome competition for our team on Wednesday. We are really excited for the match-up."

Santa Margarita coach Cressita Bowman has been excited with her team's development.

"We've worked hard this year to be a top competitor," Bowman said.

Bowman said she was hit by a car while riding her bike in January, but she was able to resume her coaching duties.

"We were all scared for how things were going to go this year, but we set a goal for ourselves to be Trinity League champs and to make semis for the playoffs," she said. "Despite injuries and illnesses, we've accomplished both of those: we went undefeated in Trinity League and we are now going to the championships. We are very excited."

It's also been quite a year for Los Alamitos under its first-year coach, Connelly.

"Our schedule was a tough one, playing many of the top teams in O.C., San Diego, and even outside of SoCal," she said. "Regardless of our opponent, we took each game one at a time and kept focus more on our own style of play - executing the details of our transition, offense, and defense to be successful.

"Up or down, we were never satisfied with being good enough. We wanted to be the best we could possibly be, and we worked towards that every single day. Most importantly, we continued to play as a team. If someone is having a bad day, someone else is stepping up.

"Our team is a very close group. Each player fights hard for herself on the field, but even harder for the girls standing next to her. And that is a huge reason for our success."

The teams will now look to continue their success Wednesday.

"We have to go out there and continue to play Los Al lacrosse," Connelly said. "Our style is fast-paced, creative and a ton of fun. We play hard, contest everything, work together, and remember to smile from time to time. If we continue playing that way, we definitely have a shot at this game."

As for Santa Margarita, Bowman said, "the key to winning Wednesday is about possession and playing smart. Los Al is a very talented team, as can be seen by their (record) over the last four years. We are aware of what they can do with the ball when they have it, so our goal is not let them have it and to be make the most of when we have it.

"Los Al has experienced players with very good stick skills. They can catch almost anything and move the ball very quickly down the field and around the 8. It'll be a tough game, but we hope to get a new name on the top of the list."

Junior Adrienne Anderson, who has 100 goals and 25 assists, leads Santa Margarita. Anderson has committed to Stanford.

Bre Richards (37 goals) and Carlie McNiff (24 goals) are other key players.

Kelsey Taber has 22 assists and Richards 19 assists.

Anderson leads the team with 44 groundballs. Danielle O'Connor has 42

Los Alamitos is led by Allie Conrad (73 goals, 39 assists), Julie Crowell (61 goals, 49 assists), Melissa Hastie (43 goals, 18 assists), Torrey Bailey (37 goals, 18 assists) and Lauren Actkinson (26 goals, 18 assists).

The winner of Wednesday's match moves on to the Southern Section championship Saturday at Redondo Union High.