Carlsbad, CA — JV brings home their first win of the season! On Thursday, February 27, a 7-2 lead from the first half led to triumph for the Monarchs against La Costa Canyon's Mavericks. Unphased by La Costa Canyon scoring the first goal of the game, captain attacker Chrissie Brown scored off of a free position shot on goal at 19:41. Drawing inspiration from Brown, the Monarchs secured the next draw control although the Mavericks won the previous two. Strategically placing captain attacker Jenna Egan on the center circle paid off! After her team won draw control at 18:49, captain attacker Regan Scherff scored unassisted just over one minute later at 17:20. This fast play would characterize the following stream of Monarch goals. It seems contradictory that the Mavericks were winning at draw control, yet failing to score. Their frustration was due to intense and aggressive redefending by the Monarch midfield and defense. After Scherff's goal, LCC won the draw. But to the Maverick's disappointment, captain defender Liliana Rigdon and midfielder Carly Anderson fought and achieved one caused turnover and a ground ball each. This gave possession to Mater Dei. Brown scored yet again at 14:23, bringing the tally to 3-1. Two minutes later, Scheff scored. And two minutes later from that, midfield center Ashlyn DiGennaro was unleashed! In her most impressive performance of season yet, DiGennaro used an awarded draw and another draw control to score two goals in a row. Both happened within less than one minute of each other! In both instances, she was unstoppable - sprinting 50 yards ahead of everyone to go from midfield to goal in seconds' time. After DiGennaro's back-to-back daggers, the score became 6-1. Here, the Mavericks gained draw control once again. They fumbled possession because defender (and sometimes midfielder) Becca Hersey caused a turnover and won a ground ball. Even when the Mavericks regained possession, the attack would have no mercy in their ride. Scherff caused a turnover and won a ground ball of her own. Once on the offensive end, the Monarchs assisted attacker Jaline Romero for her first goal of the season! Though the Mavericks managed to score one other goal in the first half with 10 seconds to go, they had significantly less offensive possession than the Monarchs did for all game time so far. The Monarchs had dominated LCC for the first half. Going into the second half at 7-2 felt great. But anything can happen in lacrosse. The Mavericks subsequently made sure to give the Monarchs a good game. The Monarchs were held to score only one goal in the second half. The Mavericks scored four times unanswered. Three of those four goals were from free position shots awarded by the referees. It seems that La Costa Canyon had strategized to drive hard against the Monarch defense on every offensive possession. The Mavericks won four out of six draw controls. They converted draw control to points four times. An overwhelming number of free position shots awarded to the Mavericks signals either a change in offensive method or aggression of defense. Offensively, LCC coaches could have instructed their ball carriers to push into defensives swarms in order to draw fouls. Defensively, the Monarchs could have been fouling more as attackers got more brave. When the score became 7-6, Mater Dei could feel the pressure. With just over one minute left in the game, Monarch defense halted LCC from scoring off of a draw control and attempt to tie. The Monarchs managed to gain possession and Scherff scored with 23 seconds left on the clock. This two-point lead of 8-6 would be too far ahead for the Mavericks to catch. The Monarchs will travel again to Westlake on Monday, March 2. Wish us luck! Many thanks to Kate Middlemass and Katie Mattson for live stats from this game.