Del Norte girls capture CIF lacrosse title

Little did Amanda Collins know in seventh grade when, she started playing lacrosse at Oak Valley Middle School, how things would turn out.

Like getting so close to winning a San Diego Section Division I in 2017 before Del Norte fell in the semifinals to Bishop’s.

But the 19-13 loss only fueled the Nighthawks’ desire to take that final step this year.

They did.

In her final lacrosse game last Saturday, Collins scored five goals to help Del Norte win its second girls lacrosse CIF title with a comeback 16-8 victory over rival Rancho Bernardo in the Division I championship game. The Nighthawks won the Division II title in 2013.

“I definitely thought this was a possibility,’’ said Collins, who will play field hockey at Providence College in the fall. “We just had a mindset on winning CIF no matter what it took.

“Every player pushed all year for this to happen.

“I was nervous when the playoffs started, but I treated it like any other game.’’

Del Norte’s fast start in the game was slowed by the Broncos, who took a one-point lead in the second half.

Bound and determined to avoid last year’s disappointment, the Nighthawks roared back with nine unanswered goals to clinch the win.

And set off the celebration.

“The kids went nuts,’’ said Del Norte coach Kimberly Pytel. “The entire beach, which by the end of the game was full of starters, was itching to charge the field. As soon as the final whistle went off, they were gone.’’

Then Pytel noticed some of her players were running toward her. =It wasn’t to give her a championship hug either. The Gatorade jug the players had with them said it was more than that.

“We had to chase her down a bit before we caught her,’’ Collins said, laughing. “We had a plan. A few of us held her down and the others doused her. We were just sharing the love with her. That was pure excitement. All our hard work for the last year paid off.’’

In addition to Collins’ scoring, the Nighthawks also got four goals and four assists from Kaia Evans and four goals from Marielle Mallori.

“RB destroyed us that first season,’’ Pytel recalled. “To beat them in the championship game, our first championship game, is icing on the cake.

“The girls were on Cloud 9 for a long time Saturday. They took a million photos of each other and with the trophy.’’

Evans wound up with 100 goals for the season. She just missed that milestone last year when she finished with 99 goals.

Like most of the other Nighthawks, Collins’ phone blew up while the team enjoyed pizza with texts from ex-teammates who graduated last year without tasting a championship.

“They knew we could do this,’’ Collins said. “Without them, we couldn’t have gotten here.’’

Del Norte made quite a run to the title this year. No team got close to them in the postseason.

After opening with a 15-6 win over Mission Hills, the Nighthawks blasted Eastlake 18-6 before taking care of the Broncos in the second half, finishing the season with an 11-7 record.

“I fell asleep happy Saturday night,’’ Collins said. “What a great day. Most of the other seniors were talking about this being one of the best ways to end senior year, with a championship. To me, this means a lot to me to have a championship banner in the gym when I come back 10 years from now.’’

UPDATES:

12:47 p.m. May 17 — This story has been updated and corrected to include the 2013 Divison II title won by the Del Norte girls lacrosse team. We apologize for the error.