Santa Ana, CA — Tuesday night lights on Monarch turf illuminated a defense-strong JV girls' lacrosse team that played with grit against the San Juan Hills Stallions. The Monarchs fell just short 5-7 against the Stallions, a loss uncharacteristic of the previously 2-0 team. At opening whistle, San Juan Hills secured draw control early and scored within the first minute of the game. Although Mater Dei gained possession of the ball next, offense was interrupted and the Stallions soon managed to score another goal. At this point the Monarch defense took strong offense against being scored on twice in a row. They resolved to maintain a stronghold against the Stallion offense, holding them scoreless for the next ten minutes. During the stand, goalie Kaitlyn Nguyen made three saves in a row. Strengthened by the grit displayed by strong one-on-one defense, successful crashing, and an impressive performance by their goalie, the Monarchs managed to score their first goal with nine minutes left in the half. It was a pretty assist from Juliette Hill to Jacky Moreno that put the Monarchs on the board. Unfortunately, the first half generally saw several failed offensive possessions for the Monarchs. The Stallions dominated draw control, putting the pressure on Mater Dei defense to prevent another San Juan Hills run. The Stallions scored with seven minutes left in the half. Mater Dei called a time out to adjust and collect. Head Coach Clayton and Assistant Coach Mendoza drew the team's attention to costly turnovers taking place when the ball was in Monarch possession: missed passes, awkward feeds, passes out of bounds, ground balls lost and misplaced shots. After the time out, the Monarchs displayed an improvement attacking the goal, but San Juan Hills came back by scoring the last goal of the half. On a positive point, Mater Dei ended the half with possession after defense denied the Stallion offense from scoring. Defender Liliana Rigdon capitalized with a successful turnover, ground ball pick up and clear to bring the ball into Monarch hands. However, time ran out and the first half ended with the score at 1-4, San Juan Hils. Goalie Yosely Ocampo took Nguyen's place at the open of the second half and continued to perform at the high standard raised by her entire defense. Although San Juan Hills kept winning draw control, defense forced the Stallions to make difficult shots while Ocampo won a ground ball and made a save. Despite the effort, the stallions scored another goal five minutes into the half to bring the score to 1-5. Mater Dei answered back soon after with a goal scored by captain midfielder Sarah Sanchez. After the next draw, defense spurred offense again with a successful save and clear by Ocampo. At this point the Stallion defense seemed to unhinge, evident in the goal Mackenzie Cowles was able to score next, one-on-one with their goalie. With the score now 3-5, San Juan Hills called a time out to try to stifle the Mater Dei run. The timeout must have produced some confusion for the Stallions because they made the costly error of being off-sides three times in a row when play commenced. Mater Dei gained easy possession each time. One such possession was converted into a goal by Sanchez, making it the second time she scored in the game. There were nine minutes left in the game. The Monarchs were closing in on the Stallion lead, bringing the score to 4-5. Even though Mater Dei stepped up the draw circle effort and defense continued to prevent scoring and cause turnovers, several attempts at scoring on the Monarch end were unsuccessful. The Stallions were able to slip away and score two more goals within two minutes of each other. The score was made 4-7, SJJHS, with 3:43 minutes left of play. Unperturbed, defense refused to let up. Goalie Yosely Ocampo made two more saves towards the end of the game. The final goal in the battle was a triumphant one made by Monarch defender Jessica Bui, who brought the ball all the way from defense to score. Finishing with the ball in the care of Monarch defense was a fitting way to end the game. Mater Dei will bounce back to face La Jolla away on Friday, March 9. Go Monarchs! Written By Coach Michelle Mendoza