MIRAMONTE 

First year Miramonte head coach Abby Bautista, a recent graduate of the University of Alabama where she played lacrosse, led the team to an 11 and 3 record. 

    Bautista had her own way of directing the Miramonte team. “I looked at our players' strengths, whether it was footwork, running speed and creating. I liked to play, move, and pass fast, achieving things when our opponents defense was not ready. It helped that we have the athletes that allowed us to play that way. We could play big and that allowed our offense to get more space to be able to do their thing.”

    Along with the talent on the team, Bautista appreciated the intangibles that the players brought with them. “This is a team where they are all really good friends that support each other on and off the field. We have a lot of really strong talent all across the field but it really came down to their energy, coming together and that’s what really has enabled us to win the big games.”

    The Miramonte offense was led by senior Sawyer Bohlig, who has committed to attend and play lacrosse for Northwestern University. Bohlig led the team with 71 goals, 15 assists, 58 ground balls, and 118 draws. “Sawyer is a great athlete and her speed is unmatched,” Bautista said. “She has great stick skills and is equally powerful with either hand. She is a great role model and leader for all of her teammates, always wanting to work hard.”

    The offense took a big hit when Mackenzie Pearce suffered a season ending knee injury in the sixth game. “Mackenzie is a co-captain and was a real asset to the team, athletically and as a role model,” Bautista said. “She still showed up for every practice and games, helping the other girls learn the offensive plays.”

    Senior co-captain and midfielder Zara San Gabriel is the team’s second leading scorer and junior Lauren Schultz both stepped up their games with Pearce’s absence. “Zara (27 goals) is an all-around player that is really quick and a good defender,” Bautista said. “I’ve seen a crazy amount of progress with Lauren (21 goals). She used her height really well and is a very accurate goal scorer with great field IQ.” 

    The defense held their opponents to single figures 12 times and Bautista was very positive with her senior heavy defense. “I like a high intensity, aggressive and overall athletic defense. We have three senior defenders on the field with Maegan Eichenberger, Avery Freer and Camilla White. Maegan is a standout defender who brought her basketball skills in reading, communicating, and sliding well along with being very athletic.”

    Senior Elsa Schroeder has been very solid in the net, stopping 44.6% of the shots on goal. “Elsa was super consistent and strong in a lot of areas,” Bautista said. “She is very accurate in feeding the ball over halfway down the field after making a save, which allowed us to make a really quick transition. She has really fast hand-eye coordination and gets to the spot where the ball is coming in hot.”

    As the seventh seed in Division 1, Miramonte defeated Lick-Wilmerding (S.F.) 16-10 but lost their second round match to the second seeded San Ramon Valley 16-4.

ACALANES 

    After an 8 and 10 record last season, Acalanes head coach Giles Imrie finished the season with a much improved 12 and 5 record. With 21 juniors and seniors and two freshmen, it was obviously a very mature team, but it still found the two freshmen contributing to the team’s overall performance.

    The experience of the team was key to their success. “We have a lot of upperclassmen and most of the starters are returners,” Imrie said. “We were really well balanced so we didn't have a lot of holes and that balance allowed us to control possession more and play our game. Still, we learned from our three losses. We had our ups and downs so we learned that it’s important to have the right mentality coming into a game and the wrong mentality can prove to be the difference in a game so you have to come prepared to play.”

    The offense was led by senior co-captain attacker Emily Roberts and freshman Ximena Angel. “Emily has been great as an attacker and stepped into the role of our leader,” Imrie said. “She had the best IQ field knowledge as to where to be and knowing how to exploit holes in the defense.”

    The offense took a big hit when they lost two key players, junior attacker Catalina Liu and junior midfielder Stella Hamilton to season ending knee injuries. “They’ve both been working hard and we’re looking forward to them coming back next year,” Imrie said. “Our midfielders are senior co-captains Reese Imrie and Grace Colaco, junior Kate Beaver, and freshman Kelly Reidenbach. They were all big contributors and Kelly started from day one and looks to be future of the team. Senior Maya Stafford was  our “Swiss army knife, playing where we need her on defense, midfielder or as an attacker and she has been ultra reliable.”

    “Our midfielders were very strong with senior co-captain Charlotte Gellman, junior Grace Colaco, and Kelly Reidenbach and they were big contributors.”

    The defense was led by juniors Reese Tierney, Grace Eppinger, Julia Lyons, and senior Kate Uffelman. “Reese was just a beast and Kate was also an anchor. Julia and Kate were solid players and as a unit they improved throughout the season.”

    Senior Sarah Hession was very solid in her second year as the Dons' goalie. “Sarah made big strides this year,” Imrie said. “She has great hand-eye coordination and played with great confidence.”

    Acalanes was the ninth seed in Division 1 and lost their opening match to San Marin 17-11.

CAMPOLINDO

    After starting off the season winning their first seven games, Campolindo then went on a deceptive six game losing streak. Deceptive in the sense that these were close games that could have gone either way with 3 one goal losses, a 2, 3 and 4 goal losses. The team closed the regular season with a four game win streak and finished the regular season with an 11-6. 

    Head coach Stephen Linaweaver saw the character in the team. “This is the most bonded team that I have coached. The players really looked out for each other and they knew each other’s strength and looked out for each other’s success. They were almost selfless to a fault. Each game we got better in a certain way and the players just kept coming out and grinding.”

    What was the difference between the losses? “A lot of it came down to poise in the fourth quarter,” Linaweaver said. “We were awesome in coming back in those games and I found a way to help keep the team focused and controlled in the fourth quarter.”

    This was a pass intensive team that assisted on 63% of the team’s goals. “That’s exactly the type of lacrosse we wanted to play, always looking for the next pass, being a super selfless team.”

    There have been a number of players that have contributed to the team’s offense led by senior attackers Kelsey Dellamar and Clara Cecchin, juniors Isabelle Maher, Emery Radell, and freshman Maddie Poritsky. The team scored on 55.3% of their shots.

    “Kelsey is a real sharpshooter that has been on the team since she was a freshman,” Linaweaver said. “She was very poised and knew where to put the ball. Clara’s was also very productive. Maddie had a great year and Isabelle has also stepped up this year. Emery was really intense and showed great vision behind the cage.” 

    There are three other freshmen besides Poritsky who contributed -- attack and middie Sadie Ginestro, middie Emery Spires and Hope Anderson on defense. “It was a first for me to have four freshmen on the varsity and they all had an impact on the team,” Linaweaver said. “They have that youthful energy that pushed the team in practice.”

    On defense, Asha Spitzer and Maher led the team in ground balls. “Both of them were outstanding in the open field and I was excited about the team’s more aggressive open field play and pushing it up in transition,” Linaweaver said. “Cate Appleton, Lily Coane, and Avery Bruno, all seniors, formed a defense that really shined this year.”

    The team used two goalies, senior Maddie Collins who stopped 46.6% of the shots against her, and junior Flore Levesque who  stopped 47% of the shots against her. “Maddie and Flore have both had good years. They really pushed each other in the off season and in practice and that’s been fun to see and they both came into their own.”

    As the 11th seed in Division 1, Campolindo lost their first-round match to Amador Valley 11-8.