Bulldogs beat Mustangs, Bobcats
Home victories against San Dieguito Academy and Sage Creek improved the Valley League record of Ramona High School’s girls lacrosse team to 4-0.
The Bulldogs, whose future for the 2016 season will be determined at Thursday’s CIF playoff seeding and selection meeting, ended the week with a 10-9 overall record after a non-league loss at Grossmont.
Ramona hosted San Dieguito Academy on April 25. Although the junior varsity Mustangs defeated their Ramona counterparts by a 6-3 score, the Bulldogs’ varsity was on the winning end of that 6-3 game.
“It was good that the girls pulled through,” said assistant coach Al Cavell. “San Dieguito is known to be a pretty decent team.”
Ramona defeated the Mustangs twice last year, but in 2013 and 2014 Ramona and San Dieguito split their league games. This year each Valley League team has only one game against each league opponent.
“The pressure’s on,” Cavell said. “We knew that we had to win it.”
Betsy Dean and Tiffany Meredith each had two goals for Ramona. Sydney Elliott and Megan Vandervort each scored once.
Sage Creek visited Ramona on April 28. The Bobcats won the junior varsity game by a 5-4 margin.
“We had a tough loss,” Cavell said.
The Bobcats had a 3-1 halftime lead in the junior varsity game. Ramona scored twice in the final two minutes.
“If we had 30 more seconds we probably could have pulled it off,” Cavell said.
The Carlsbad Unified School District opened Sage Creek in 2013 with ninth-graders only, and the school has expanded by one grade each year since then. This year the school has juniors but no seniors, allowing for varsity play.
“They were a good team. They were tough,” Cavell said. “They were very fast.”
The varsity game was tied at four goals apiece when the halftime whistle blew. Ramona rallied in the second half for an 8-6 victory. Vandervort had three goals and one assist, Elliott placed two shots into the net, and one goal apiece was scored by Caitlyn Cripps, Dean and Sierra Fields.
Grossmont’s junior varsity prevailed by a 7-6 score April 29. The Foothillers’ varsity defeated Ramona in a 10-3 game.
“The varsity game was a tough loss,” Cavell said.