Girls lacrosse: Marin Catholic returns to MCAL finale for another shot at pennant
“We’ve been here before and come close so many times,” said senior Audrey Carr, who scored a game-high six goals with six draw controls to lead No. 2 seed Marin Catholic past No. 3 Tam, 16-13, in Wednesday’s MCAL semifinals.
Marin Catholic is driving hard to settle some old scores and claim the MCAL girls lacrosse pennant at the same time. One hurdle down, and the Wildcats are one step closer to the crown.
“We’ve been here before and come close so many times,” said senior Audrey Carr, who scored a game-high six goals with six draw controls to lead No. 2 seed Marin Catholic past No. 3 Tam, 16-13, in Wednesday’s MCAL semifinals.
Marin Catholic (14-3) will host Saturday’s final, against either No. 1 Redwood or No. 4 San Marin. The Wildcats lost to Redwood in the MCAL finals in 2022 and are still looking for some measure of revenge after a 16-14 loss to the Giants earlier this season. Marin Catholic beat San Marin, 20-8, during the regular season.
“It seems like it’s expected we’ll be in the playoffs every year, but every year is different,” added Carr, a playoff veteran. “We worked hard to get to this point.”
Elsa Greene rushed the ball upfield for a wide-open pass to Lulu Hobson, who nailed the eventual game-winner for a 14-13 Wildcats lead. Carr added a pair of goals in the final 7 minutes.
Marin Catholic freshman Brooke Spagnuolo had four goals and eight draw controls as the two-sport standout transitions from the basketball court to the field.
“Ever since I was a freshman, I’ve watched Audrey Carr play and followed her play,” Spagnuolo said. “She’s been a role model and an inspiration to me.”
Carr responded, “I want to be a good role model. I want to show Brooke how to play as part of the team and how to play her best. Really, she’s a great player.”
Wednesday’s contest was much more intense than the regular-season meeting on March 28, when Marin Catholic beat Tam, 23-11. Wednesday’s win helped the Wildcats further soothe some of the memories from last season’s 16-15 loss to the Hawks in the MCAL final.
“These were two really good teams playing each other,” said junior Rowie Scobie, who led the Hawks with four goals and six draw controls. “I’m grateful we got to play each other.”
The season isn’t over yet for either team. Tam was promoted the North Coast Section Division I field for this year’s playoffs, which are scheduled to start Tuesday.
The defending MCAL champion Red-tailed Hawks are much younger this season after graduating several senior leaders, but matured throughout the season behind Scobie and seniors Carson Cann and Graciela Hale. The Hawks (9-8) came into Wednesday’s contest with a four-game winning streak.
“We both lost some really great players from last season,” Scobie said. “We are a much younger team with more new underclassmen. It’s been an adjustment, but also we’ve seen some great things.”
Cann gave Tam its only lead of the game with the day’s opening goal — a hard, quick shot through traffic. The teams went back and forth, until Greene followed back-to-back goals by Spagnuolo with one of her own for a 7-4 lead in the second quarter. Carr scored back-to-back goals to give Marin Catholic its biggest advantage of the game, a 10-6 lead in the second.
Tam’s Kate Carvalo closed the first half with a rush at the Wildcats net that was blocked by netminder Katherine Villeda, but Carvalo put the rebound in the back of the cage for the goal.
Carr scored the first goal of the second half, but Tam outscored Marin Catholic in the third quarter. Tam’s Sarah Cormier scored back-to-back goals to cut the deficit to two goals, and Scobie and Hale added a pair of goals. Libby Irving added her second goal for the Wildcats and Spagnuolo scored on a wild bouncer as she fell to the ground.
Cann and Scobie scored to open the final frame for Tam, tying the score, 13-13, less than 3 minutes into the fourth quarter.
“We hustled to the end,” Scobie said. “We were taking our shots. … And even if there’s a save, our attackers will not stop.”
Around the county
Colin Puckett scored a game-high five goals as top-seeded Marin Catholic cruised past No. 4 seed San Marin, 21-1, in a MCAL boys semifinal. Peter Tornga added three goals for the Wildcats, who also got two goals each from Auggie Chapman, Harrison Tyler and Liam Berneker. Blake Hart scored for San Marin.
The Wildcats will host the other semifinal winner, Redwood, in Saturday’s MCAL championship. Redwood defeated Tam, 16-9, Wednesday as seniors Will Parsons and Nolan Ewing scored five goals each. Ewing added three assists. Senior Jake Vasquez added two goals and six assists.
- Marin Academy advanced to Friday’s Bay Counties League boys lacrosse championship with Wednesday’s 19-6 victory over Lick-Wilmerding. The Wildcats’ Fischer Burke scored six goals, while Fineas DeGooyer and Logan Chapman scored three goals each. Marin Academy will face either Stuart Hall or University in the finale at Golden Gate Park.