Glendale girls’ lacrosse falls to No. 1 Redondo in playoff semifinals
CULVER CITY — Since beginning its program nine seasons ago, the Glendale High girls’ lacrosse team has often looked to model itself after traditional power Redondo Union.
In that span, Glendale and Redondo Union have crossed paths at tournaments and participated in nonleague matches, giving Glendale coach Joe Campbell a clearer vision on how to tailor his squad in the ilk of Redondo Union.
Glendale and Redondo faced off Saturday in the biggest matchup between the two teams, with the Nitros in search of their first postseason championship. Unfortunately for Glendale, its bid was cut short.
Fourth-seeded Glendale stayed close with No. 1 Redondo early into the second half before suffering a 19-14 defeat in a Los Angeles Lacrosse Foundation Division I semifinal match at Culver City High.
Redondo (17-2) will meet No. 3 Palos Verdes (13-3) in the championship match at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Westlake High. Palos Verdes earlier registered a 13-8 semifinal win versus No. 2 Westlake.
It proved to be the swan song for a contingent of Glendale seniors, including standout Rachel Fong, who scored eight goals for the Nitros (18-3). Fong finished the season with an eye-popping 106 goals.
Glendale got plenty accomplished throughout the season, including winning a second straight Pacific League championship and earning playoff wins against Palisades and league rival Crescenta Valley before succumbing to Redondo Union, which has won five playoff championships in its history..
“I thought we played great, but we just ran out of gas against an excellent team in Redondo Union,” said Campbell, who has guided the Nitros to three league crowns in the past six seasons. “Redondo Union is exactly who we want to be and we played them seven years ago and it was no contest. We saw them today and it’s what we want to be looking ahead.
“It just came down to winning draws and making shots and we came up short today in doing those two things. Redondo Union has got a great transition game and we’re pretty young on defense. Overall, we had a fantastic season.”
Glendale never led against experienced Redondo, which won the Greater Los Angeles North Division championship last season. The Nitros erased three deficits in the first half and got to within 12-10 with 17:08 left in the second half before the Sea Hawks pulled away.
Glendale tied it at 5 on a goal by Fong, her 100th on the season, with 12:38 remaining in the first half before Redondo got three straight goals from Addison Bass to take an 8-5 lead with 7:33 to go.
Fong brought the Nitros to within 8-7 with 5:10 left. Bass (seven total goals) gave the Sea Hawks a 9-7 lead with 3:33 left in the half.
Redondo Union held an 11-8 halftime advantage.
After Zoe Charum scored to bring the Nitros to within 12-10 with 17:08 left in the second half, but Redondo closed out on a 7-4 run to wrap up the win.
“Redondo Union is such a good team and that’s the best we’ve ever played against them in my four years,” Fong said. “We hung in there with them, but we just came up short.
“We took a lot of steps this season in making our program better. In the beginning of the season, I didn’t think we’d get this far. We made progress and it’s real cool to score more than 100 goals because I wanted to do everything I could to make our team better.”
Glendale received two goals apiece from Xcaret Salvador and Charum and one each from Samantha Hutchinson and Aaliyah Eudabe.
Redondo Union got three goals each from Sophie Ristorcelli, Emma Hodges and Jordan Davis, two from Caltlin Hanniff and one from Brooke Tokushige.
“I think our transition game was a big thing because we like to move with the ball,” Redondo coach Tom Borgia said. “We like to get out and run.
“We feel good right now about our team. Joe does such a great job over there and he’s really built up that program.”
