Lady Titans to play for Division II section girls field hockey title

Rain or shine, the San Diego Section will hold its girls field hockey championships Saturday, Nov. 15, at La Jolla High School.

Also taking place that day are section finals in cross county (Balboa Park’s Morley Field) and boys water polo (Coggan Family Aquatic Complex).

Inclement weather is forecast throughout the day from an approaching Pacific storm. Wet weather might provide a hinderance, but it will be difficult to dampen championship game spirits.

Four Metro Conference teams gained entry into this year’s girls field hockey postseason tournament, all in Division III:  Eastlake (second seed), Olympian (third seed), Bonita Vista (eighth seed) and Otay Ranch (10^th seed).

Eastlake and Olympian received byes to the quarterfinals while Bonita Vista and Otay Ranch both jump-started the playoffs with first-round games.

Bonita Vista defeated ninth-seeded Westview (9-10) by a 1-0 score to advance to the quarterfinals against No. 1 Del Norte while Otay Ranch (8-11) dropped a 7-0 decision at seventh-seeded Point Loma.

Del Norte eliminated Bonita Vista (10-11) by a score of 2-0 to advance to the semifinals. Olympian (11-7) lost, 2-1, in two overtimes to sixth-seeded Rancho Buena Vista while Eastlake topped Point Loma (10-7) by a score of 3-0 to meet RBV in the division semifinals.

Eastlake (17-1-2) won 2-0 over the Lady Longhorns (13-8) to meet Del Norte (15-4) in Saturday’s final after the Lady Nighthawks proved 1-0 overtime winners over fifth-seeded Mira Mesa (15-7) in the other semifinal matchup.

Senior Samara Maldonado and sophomore Emily Burgon each scored goals for Eastlake in the semifinals with Burgon and sophomore Kareli Rascon collected assists in the game. Junior Emma Brown recorded the shutout victory.

Maldonado scored all three goals for the Lady Titans in the quarterfinal win while Burgon and sophomore Sydney Weevie each had one assist. Brown made four saves to record the shutout win.

On the season, Burgon paces Eastlake with 19 goals and 15 assists, followed by Maldonado with 15 goals and six assists.

A total of nine players on the roster scored at least one goal while 11 players recorded at least one assist. Other goal leaders included junior Neisha May (six goals), junior Gwendolyn Goold (five goals), junior Megan Linck (four goals), junior Aubrey Pond (three goals), Weevie (three goals) and senior Peyton Kirby (three goals). Linck also contributed five assists while Goold had four assists.

Brown appeared in 19 games with three goals allowed, 25 saves (0.893 save percentage), nine wins, two ties and seven shutouts.

Senior Almira Daplas keyed Olympian in season scoring with 11 goals and one assist while junior Mikaela Stainaker ranked second on the team with four goals and two assists. Senior goaltender Chloe Diaz allowed three goals in 14 game appearances while making 41 saves to go with seven wins and two shutouts.

The Lady Titans are making their first CIF finals appearance since winning the Division II title in 2018 under coach Robert Blas, 2-1 over Mt. Carmel.

Eastlake finished 8-0 in league play while the Lady Eagles were 6-2. Granite Hills and Hilltop shared the Metro-South Bay League title.

A total of three championship games are scheduled for Saturday.

Top-seeded Mt. Carmel (15-8-1) is slated to meet sixth-seeded La Costa Canyon (10-14-2) in the Division I championship game at 3:30 p.m.

Fourth-seeded Canyon Hills (19-5) is set to take on second-seeded Bishop’s (22-2) in the Open Division final at 6 p.m.

Upsets include La Costa Canyon upending second-seeded Rancho Bernardo (12-11-2) by a 4-2 score in overtime in the Division I semifinals and eighth-seeded Canyon Crest Academy (12-10-1) eliminating top-seeded Torrey Pines (20-4) by a score of 2-1 in a shootout in the Open Division quarterfinals.