No. 1 Troy beats Edison, remains undefeated
LA MIRADA – As the girls golf season enters its final two weeks, Troy is in a position to do something which senior team captain Alison Lillie said would be “really amazing,” especially considering the difficult schedule that faced the Warriors this fall.
They have a chance to finish undefeated.
Last year after cruising through the Sierra League, Troy coach Jerry Cowgill decided his girls needed a bit more of a challenge, so he has elected to not be affiliated with a league. That’s allowed him to line up matches against some of the best teams in the county, such as No. 3 Yorba Linda and No. 8 Santa Margarita. The Warriors beat them both, and on Wednesday at La Mirada Golf Course, Troy closed out its season series against Edison with a 203-220 nonleague victory.
The University of San Francisco-bound Lillie led the No. 1 Warriors (8-0), posting a 2-over-par 38. It’s the second time in as many matches with Edison that she has medaled. Last Wednesday, she posted an even-par 36 at Mile Square Golf Course as the Warriors beat the Chargers (12-3) by seven stokes.
“We weren’t really expecting to go undefeated, and to do it … that would be a very big thing. It would be really fun,” Lillie said. The Warriors have two matches remaining – one against Wilson of Hacienda Heights and another against Artesia.
“It (playing a tough schedule) helps a lot because the better teams you play against the better you are going to get,” she said. “Last year, we weren’t used to the competition (when the CIF tournaments began), so no one was prepared.”
But on Monday, the Warriors proved they are still vulnerable. They finished third in the Long Beach Wilson Bruins Invitational, finishing two shots behind No. 2 Mater Dei, which placed second.
“That was a bummer. We knew we could have done better. They (Mater Dei) played well and they deserved it,” Lillie said, “but that just motivated us to practice harder.”
Even though Troy came out on top of Wednesday’s match, Lillie said her team can play much better. In four of their eight matches this season, the Warriors have broken 200, and when they last played Edison, the Warriors finished with a 198 on the Chargers’ home course.
“We always try to break 200. We got close. It’s all right. We just have to work on a few things,” she said.
Jennifer Yu, led the Chargers with a 3-over-par 39, and was the only one in Edison’s starting lineup to finish in the 30s. Wednesday’s match was quite a challenge for the Chargers, Edison coach Paul Harrell said because this was the first time that the team had ever seen La Mirada Golf Course.
“Some of our new girls when they play a new course, they struggle,” he said. Harrel doesn’t have a senior in his staring rotation of players, and a freshman, Pilar Hurtado, has seen a lot of playing time this year.
“Jennifer, though, has been very consistent,” Harrell said. “For a pretty young group, I can’t complain too much, they have been doing very well.”
