Girls lacrosse: San Marin makes history with first section title
Back in the day, when Novato High won four straight North Coast Section girls lacrosse championships, San Marin senior captains Abby Brackett and Cate Contreras fervently followed the Hornets’ successes.
This season, it’s finally the Mustangs’ turn.
Top-seeded San Marin defeated second-seeded Campolindo 12-7 for its first NCS championship with a dominating performance in the Division II final on Thursday on the Mustangs’ home field.
“That was my dream coming here,” said Brackett, who will play for Marquette University next year. “Novato is a great school and I did totally think about going there. But San Marin is my place and I wanted to make a change here and that’s what we just did. I’m just so happy.”
“It’s crazy,” said Contreras. “We always wanted this since we were like 5 years old when we went to those (Novato) games. We saw Novato do it and now it’s our turn.”
Novato spearheaded the MCAL’s rise as an NCS powerhouse in girls lacrosse with consecutive section titles from 2015-18. The MCAL has now claimed seven NCS championships in 8 seasons.
The last time the Mustangs reached the NCS finals was 2019 when they lost on the road at Piedmont, 8-7.
“It’s hard to get here,” said San Marin coach David Berry. “A lot of hard work, a lot of dedication, a lot of commitment. They worked their butts off and knew this was a possibility and they played to that potential.”
The Mustangs (17-5) broke the championship game open with seven goals in the third quarter to pull ahead 11-3. Abby Bartholo had three scores in the period, Alex Chamberlain added two, and Analiese Engler and Brackett had one apiece.
Bartholo, only a sophomore, finished with five goals. Engler had three for the game, including the Mustangs’ only score in the fourth quarter.
The Mustangs held the Cougars (13-6) scoreless for 21 minutes from the start of the third period and until late in the final quarter to build a 12-3 cushion. Campolindo added four late scores for the final margin after the game was already decided.
“Our defense played amazing today,” said Berry. “It was a huge momentum swing because their goalie was making tons of saves. We told the defense to hold steady and give us the opportunity to get back in this game.”
Campolindo kept it close in the first half with two second-quarter goals to pull to within 4-3. The Cougars scored what appeared to be the tying goal with three minutes left in the half, but the score was nullified due to a crease violation. San Marin goalie Gia Ciolino then came up with a key save on an 8-meter shot to preserve the one-goal lead at intermission.
Bartholo scored two first-quarter goals to help the Mustangs build a 4-1 lead. Brackett and Engler also scored in the first period. With less than a minute to play in the first quarter, Brackett grabbed a loose ball and raced nearly the length of the field to fire in an unassisted goal with 4.5 seconds remaining.
As the Mustangs gathered midfield with their new NCS pennant and first-place medals hanging from their necks, they invited players from the Novato Nighthawks youth lacrosse program to join them for a photo. Young girls raced to take a group shot with the new NCS champs in a show of support for the next generation of Mustangs.