Mira Costa girls lacrosse head coach Amanda Cross knew her team was in unchartered waters. Unfortunately, the squad ran into an adversary it knew only too well – the Sea Kings.
After dropping both Bay League contests against Palos Verdes, Mira Costa faced its foe from the hill Thursday in the U.S. Lacrosse North Division Championship held at Redondo Union High School. The game marked the first time Mira Costa had reached the finals in the history of its program.
The end result was similar to the previous two showdowns although Mira Costa had its chances to win. The Mustangs failed to capitalize on an 11-5 second-half lead, surrendering seven unanswered goals in a 12-11 loss.
The victory was the 15th in a row for Palos Verdes (15-3) which saw its winning streak stopped with a 19-9 loss to  Los Alamitos (18-2) in the U.S. Lacrosse Southern Section final Saturday.
Los Alamitos finished the season ranked No. 1 in the Southern Section while Palos Verdes was ranked No. 15. Mira Costa (12-6) is listed at No. 18.
Taylor Duncan, Kira Hagaman, Lexi Kurugian and Remi Nemeroff each scored two goals and Lia Sepanek and Taylor St. Germain added one apiece in the Mustang’s final game of the season.
Mira Costa reached the finals by outscoring third-seeded Redondo 9-4 in the second half to defeat the host team 14-6 in the semifinals.
Sepanek scored four goals, Pool and Susanna Sieke scored three goals apiece and Hagaman added two goals for Mira Costa (12-5) while goalkeeper Monique Rohrbach stopped 13 shots by Redondo.
Palos Verdes’ boys team also reached the Southern Section championship with a 13-4 victory over Palisades. The Sea Kings (20-3) are ranked second in the Southern Section and faced top-ranked Corona Del Mar (24-0) in the championship game Saturday but lost 7-6 after holding a 5-1 lead in the first half.
