Redondo Union Girls Extend Run, Winning for First Time on Rival Mira Costa’s Home Field

On Friday night at Mira Costa High, with the weather breezy and a chilly 54 degrees, the Redondo Union High girl's lacrosse team stayed blistering hot with a 13-4 victory over the Mustangs in a Bay League match that was decided by halftime.

"We don't need any motivation when we play Costa," Coach Tom Borgia said. "They're our archrivals."

While they might not have needed anything extra, the Sea Hawks (12-2, 10-0 in the Bay League) didn't lack for motivation. Coming into the match, they were riding a 10-game winning streak, winning by an average of 14 goals a game. And a year ago, Redondo Union was unbeaten heading into its season finale and blew a four-goal lead in losing at Mira Costa (3-8, 3-2).

"This is the first time that Redondo lacrosse has ever won on this turf, boy or girls," said team co-captain Meesha Robinson, who plays midfield and scored two goals on five shot attempts. "Usually when we come here we get intimidated or something happens that we start off up and then slowly break down. But this game we really kept it up and really kept it going through the whole game."

Additional fuel came from Sea Hawks' co-coach Erin Garnsey who was celebrating a birthday and had only one wish: a victory over Costa on its turf.

"Luckily we got to bring it to her. I thought it would be the best gift we could give," Robinson said.
 
"It just feels great that it's our senior year and that's what we got to do when we left Redondo," added co-captain Tully Tampakes who had a goal and an assist.

The Sea Hawks were, simply put, the better team. They jumped out to a 9-0 lead at halftime and were faster to the ball, controlled the tempo of the game throughout and had nearly three times as many shots on goal as Mira Costa. They also were more aggressive with physical, in-your-face defense that left the Mustangs visibly flustered, especially in the first half.

Chantel Celotto, who is Redondo Union's leading scorer with 71 points, had three goals and three assists. Julia Denney, who leads the team in goals with 38, added three goals of her own.

The Sea Hawks will continue their push for a Bay League championship on April 21 against Beverly Hills, a team they previously beat this season 19-2.

"We've got spring break coming up and only three practices so we've got to keep up on the game," Borgia said. "You don't want to get complacent. We want to go 14-0 and win the Bay League and then move onto the playoffs."