ENCINITAS — Twice, Rancho Bernardo High School’s girls lacrosse team played for a CIF San Diego Section championship. Both times, in 2011 and 2018, the Broncos walked off the field with heads bowed, solemn in defeat.
RB’s third go at a banner proved far more memorable.
On a cool, breezy, overcast Saturday afternoon at San Dieguito Academy, Rancho Bernardo won that elusive first crown, routing Canyon Crest Academy 13-6 for the CIF San Diego Section Division 2 championship.
“It feels incredible,” said junior Sydney Smith, who led the Broncos with four goals. “I have goosebumps.”
RB’s goal from the start of the season was to win its first title. On Saturday, the coaching staff, all RB grads, wore black sweatshirts that read:
No Days Off
Love to Play
Built by Heart
Forged by Grit.
The Broncos (17-5) wasted no time exerting control against CCA (9-13). Freshman Rebecca Johnson, the team’s leading scorer with 72 goals, three against CCA, found the net 83 seconds into the match.
By the end of the first quarter, RB led 3-0. By halftime, the rout was on with the scoreboard reading Broncos 10, Ravens 1.
Of the fast start, head coach Faire Wood said: “My coaching staff did a super-good job getting them super-hyped, super-excited and energetic.”
Rancho Bernardo led 13-2 in the fourth quarter before Wood unloaded the bench and Canyon Crest scored the final four goals.
Milla DePrince scored three goals for the Broncos. Peyton Edgerton, Petra Kozakowski and Hana Liu scored two goals for CCA. Charlotte Grundon was clutch in goal for RB, stopping 10 shots, many from point-blank range.
“Oh, she killed it,” said Smith. “She’s just a brute in goal. She’s a brick wall.”
Division 1
Carlsbad 12, Del Norte 4: Carlsbad and Del Norte met for the second year in a row to determine the D1 champion and for the second straight year, the Lancers broke the Nighthawks’ hearts. Led by a stingy defense and balanced offense, Carlsbad handed Del Norte an eight-goal defeat.
Eight players scored for Carlsbad (19-4), led by sophomore Ella Avery’s three goals. Del Norte (15-6) came in averaging 14 goals, but senior goalie Lauren Lorentzen turned back 10 shots for Carlsbad. Of his goalie, Lancers head coach James Magill said, “She’s a rock star. She’s going to have a good time playing in college.”
Magill, who was drenched with a bucket of cold water after the win, took pride in his team repeating as D1 champions.
“The reason I’m so excited for these girls is they accomplished something some people spend their whole life chasing,” Magill said. “It’s that elusive win within. When they go into a job interview later in life, they’re going to know they’re champions. I want them to be confident women, knowing they can do anything in life.”
In the 2024 Division 1 championship game, Carlsbad beat the Nighthawks 9-8 in overtime. The teams met in the regular season this year with Carlsbad winning 8-7 in double overtime.
Del Norte head coach Jose Soto said his team was missing four starters who opted to go to the prom. Said Soto: “I’m just proud of the girls who committed to showing up.”
Division 3
Olympian 9, Tri-City Christian 7: Olympian rallied from a 4-0 deficit late in the first quarter to defeat Tri-City Christian in the program’s first girls lacrosse title.
Facing adversity was nothing new for the Eagles (13-10): they trailed Mission Bay 6-2 at halftime before winning 7-6 in the semifinals.
“This team just has no quit,” said head coach Keith Quigley.
“We start to feel more hyped being down,” said goalie Laura Martinez, who made 10 saves. “We have nothing to lose. We might as well go all out.”
Olympian took its first lead at 7-6 with 43.1 seconds to play in the third quarter on a goal by Maleah Edwards.
“That was like a weight lifted off my shoulders,” said Edwards, who finished with a game-high four goals. “I was able to step back and knew we had it.”
Kirsten Licon scored two goals for Olympian, and cemented the win by riding the ball for the game’s final 30 seconds.
Jordan Campaigne and Nylah Vargo led Tri-City with two goals. In its second year of varsity lacrosse, Tri-City (15-4) featured a roster of all freshmen and sophomores.
Of Martinez’s performance in the net, Quigley said, “Laura basically has been the backbone of this team for four years.”
“It’s crazy,” Martinez said of winning the school’s first girls lacrosse title. “We wanted this the entire season.”
