San Marcos girls lacrosse finished as the Gold Coast Invitational Runner-Up in the CIF-SS D1/2 Division on Saturday at Warkentin Stadium.
After the Royals earned a 9-5 upset victory over San Juan Hills in the semifinals, they fell to a strong West Ranch squad in the championship by a score of 13-7.
“We finished strong and kept competing, but we’re looking for heads-up play in tight pressure situations from everyone,” San Marcos head coach Paul Ramsey said. “These games against top teams are getting us the experience to make good decisions with the ball.
“I’ll take these early losses if it gets us the experience we need before Channel League play.”
In the championship matchup, the Royals held a 3-2 lead after the first quarter. However, West Ranch found its groove in the second to take a 6-3 advantage heading into halftime.
San Marcos continued to battle in the second half, but the Wildcats continued to pull away for the eventual 13-7 victory. Josephine Grossman scored three goals for the Royals in the title game, while Mia Richmond supplied a pair.
“We had [West Ranch] at 3-1 with time running out in the first quarter and gave them the ball for (Grace) Manning to go coast to coast with seconds left on the clock,” Ramsey said. “We were frustrating them until that point, and then that turnover sparked them.”
Earlier in the semifinal matchup, the San Marcos duo of Grossman and Taylee Jones led the charge with three goals apiece. Meanwhile, Richmond held it down on the defensive end with a strong performance against San Juan Hills’ leading scorer.
“The entire defense played well again, and I really liked the way Mia handled (Natalie) Chen in the San Juan Hills game,” Ramsey said. “We wanted to play in the top division for this tournament and face the best who would come.”
San Marcos (4-3) will be on the road against Oak Park on Tuesday.