Redondo-PV showdown to decide Bay League girls lacrosse title
Junior midfielder Alison Shafer leads Redondo’s girls lacrosse team in scoring and assists despite being targeted by opposing defenses. Photo
With eight consecutive Bay League championships, Redondo’s girls lacrosse team begins each season with a target on its back and this year it’s Palos Verdes who has the best chance to dethrone the Sea Hawks.
Redondo has played Oak Park in the last two LA Section finals, winning in 2015 and losing in 2016, but its quest for a ninth straight league title won’t come easy.
The Sea Hawks entered the week with an 8-3 record and ranked No. 2 in the LA Section but faced a much improved Peninsula team with an 8-4 record Wednesday.
On Friday, Redondo travels to Palos Verdes (8-3) for a game it needs to win to earn at least a share of the Bay League crown. Palos Verdes upset host Redondo 10-9 on March 29 defeating the Sea Hawks for the first time in five years.
It’s been a challenging year for Redondo head coach Tom Borgia whose team plays 11 games against team that will make the playoffs.
Redondo had big wins against No. 3 Oak Park, No. 8 Agoura, No. 9 Crescenta Valley and No. 10 Glendale but fell to Orange County powerhouse Tesoro, No. 1 Chaminade and Palos Verdes, currently listed No. 9 in the LaxPower rankings.
“We started the year with major injuries/surgeries that knocked out two experienced offensive starters for the year,” Borgia said. “Senior Jaymie Bettger had ACL surgery and won’t return but Gracie Washburn came back two weeks ago after having screws placed in both of her knees in the fall. Unfortunately, in the next game her sister Jackie Schneider, a three-year starter on defense, broke her thumb and is out for the year.”
The injuries made Redondo a very young team on offense, starting two freshmen, three sophomores, one junior and one senior.
The offense is led by junior midfielder Alison Shafer who began the week with 33 goals and 30 assists.
“Most teams know she is our star and they set up their defense to stop her from scoring so she has been feeding more this year,” Borgia explained “Sophomore attacker Emma Hodges has had a breakout year with 25 goals and 10 assists.”
Sophomore midfielder Addy Bass has 25 goals and seven assists and freshman attacker Brooke Tokushige has 16 goals and 13 assists. Freshman midfielder Marianna Gamet has eight goals in four games after being moved up to the varsity from JV. Other key contributors on offense are attackers Sophie Ristorcelli and senior Sara Furutani, along with midfielders Shea Fleetwood and Kylie Yorke.
“While our offense is young, our defense more experienced with three-year starter Melanie Paiz in goal,” Borgia said. “Paiz has a 41-8 record while in goal during her career at Redondo. Our defense is led by senior Adrianna D’Agostino, and juniors Lisa Diethelm and Maddie Marcon. Also contributing on defense are juniors Meagan Cooley and Sierra Dorn.”
Redondo hosts Mira Costa on Wednesday, April 26 before hosting Peninsula on Friday, April 28 in a game that will have playoff seeding implications.
Mira Costa began the week with a 1-11 record and hosted Palos Verdes on Wednesday.