Edison girls’ lacrosse falls to Santa Margarita in overtime
A lot has happened since Edison High School defeated Santa Margarita in girls’ lacrosse more than a year ago, but the Eagles didn’t forget that loss.
That was apparent by the intensity that the Santa Margarita players exhibited throughout their 10-9 overtime victory over the host Chargers.
Heading into the game, the CIF Southern Section Division 1 poll ranked Edison fourth, one spot above Santa Margarita.
Junior midfielder Molly Jacobson scored the game-winner with 21 seconds remaining in overtime for the win. Jacobson relished the opportunity to beat Edison with one shot.
“When I went [to the] goal, all I was thinking about was winning and that I wanted to win it for us,” she said. “It lit a fire under me.”
Junior midfielder Caroline Sanders also performed well for Santa Margarita (5-1), leading all scorers with four goals.
“The energy we have on our team was definitely carrying over from last year,” Sanders said. “We wanted to get back at them, and we wanted to beat them. I’ve been scoring consistently this year, but I definitely came in fired up and ready to score more.”
Santa Margarita head coach Katie Jasien saw her team as the underdog, a role the Eagles took to happily.
“Edison has had some really great wins already this season,” she said. “They have a really strong program from coaching down to their players on the field. We wanted it, we knew we were the underdogs coming in, and we fought the entire game.”
Edison spread its offensive production throughout the lineup. Blakely Malpass, Anna Beachner, Gwen Ontiveros and Ali Bryant each scored two goals, while Bohuen Tong scored one.
Although the Eagles won the match, Edison (3-2) has compiled some impressive wins in the program’s three-year history. That includes this year’s season-opening win over St. Margaret’s, ranked No. 2 in the CIF Southern Section poll at the time.
Perhaps that success stems from the fact that some of Edison’s upperclassmen coached the underclassmen when they were in middle school.
“I saw these girls when they couldn’t even hold a stick,” Bryant said. “Now they’re out here competing with some of the top talent in the O.C.”
To Malpass, that former coach-to-player relationship has translated into excellent team chemistry.
“They also can ask us questions they are afraid to ask the real coach,” she said. “If you don’t want to go to Coach to ask us a question, you can ask a teammate who is not only a former coach but a friend. It makes it more of a family.”
Bryant and Malpass continued to lead their younger teammates by example, battling Santa Margarita to the end.
Malpass played a significant role in helping Edison dig out of an early deficit, assisting on Beachner’s early game-tying goal to make it 3-3 in the first half. She then scored a go-ahead goal later in the half to bring the score to 5-4.
Bryant excelled in the clutch, scoring her second goal of the game, from the free position, with just under 90 seconds remaining to tie Santa Margarita at 9-9.
Unfortunately for Edison, the overtime period saw Santa Margarita win a long ground ball battle before Jacobson eventually beat Cailien Gorsuch to win it for the Eagles.
Edison coach Olivia Smart came out of the loss encouraged.
“I feel good,” she said. “We had a lot of mistakes but nothing we can’t improve on. They never give up. I’ve never coached a team with so much heart and desire to win.”
Edison hosts Yorba Linda on Tuesday.
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