WATSONVILLE—It didn’t take long for the Monte Vista Christian girls’ lacrosse team to turn things around after suffering a heartbreaking loss to begin the season.
Junior midfielder Arianna Covarrubias had four goals and three assists for the Mustangs in their 20-5 non-league victory against Wilcox High on Monday.
She now has seven goals this season for MVC (4-2, 0-1), which had won four straight.
“I think it’s really the team culture and confidence because a lot of us are still beginners,” Covarrubias said. “But we really uplift each other and we’re all learning, we’re meshing as a team more especially through the games.”
Sophomore attack/midfielder Kyra Driscoll had a team-leading four assists and added two goals, and sophomore attack/midfielder Avery Coleman added three goals.
Junior midfielder/attack Courtney Miller had a six-goal performance in Monday’s win, giving her a team-best 17 goals this season.
“I think this really boosts all of our confidence,” she said. “It really brings us up because I know a lot of girls were discouraged after the first game. But these past few wins have really just bonded us as a team and brought us all together.”
The Mustangs began this season with an 8-7 loss to Notre Dame of Salinas on Feb. 23. Miller said that they immediately went back to the drawing board, putting in extra work on team defense and their offensive attack.
MVC coach Matt Coleman said that was the first time he was able to see the players in action. It also gave the coaching staff an opportunity to take a step back and figure out what needed to be worked on.
Coleman said they focused on the girls playing creatively and having a few offensive sets, which is something they couldn’t establish due to players who were still involved in winter sports.
“That really gave us an opportunity to get knocked hard,” he said.
They bounced right back with a 19-10 win against Live Oak High on March 3. Driscoll set a new school record with eight goals in a single game—five of those coming in the second half.
Miller added three goals and three assists, and fellow teammates Covarrubias and junior attack/midfielder Tori Ferrante each added three goals.
MVC’s defense played a major factor in its 12-2 win against Leland High on March 15. Freshman goalie Jana Bacero Duncan finished with 10 saves.
Kailyn Kaiser led all scorers with four goals for the Mustangs, and both Miller and freshman Kylie Brunelli each scored two goals. Brunelli also finished with a team-best three assists.
“Growing up in the sports I played, defense was something that I just prided myself on,” Coleman said. “The thing about lacrosse is it’s almost an offensive game because you see the scores.”
Two days later, Miller had another strong performance with a team-high six goals and four assists for the Mustangs in their 15-2 win against Pioneer High on March 17.
“We definitely thought of coming out with a strong defense, we wanted that for sure,” Miller said. “But just as it went on we just realized how strong of a defense we could really be and we wanted to test that. Somehow we’re coming out with two goals, four goals against us, which is really good.”
MVC had 20 total shots and Covarrubias had eight of the 13 draw controls they won. The defense once again played a big-time game by not allowing Pioneer to take any clean shots on goal.
The program, which started in 2017, is barely in its third full season of existence due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This is the first time, in a long time, that the Mustangs have been able to participate in what feels like a “traditional” season.
Coleman said the team—which features just one senior—was still getting to know each other at the beginning of the season. Especially after coming off an abbreviated 2021 spring season.
Covarrubias, who was a goalie for four years, said she has always been vocal on the field. She showed signs of it during Monday’s game, guiding some of the underclassmen and turning herself into a coach.
“Sometimes I talk too much and it distracts me from my actual gameplay,” she said. “So, it’s finding that nice balance of talking, communicating to people, but also being able to trust my teammates.”
Covarrubias said the biggest challenge with having a younger squad is getting to learn each other’s strengths.
“I feel like we are finding out that we’re actually real competitors,” she said.
Covarrubias mentioned they weren’t expecting success in such a short period, but it’s been reassuring because she knows the league schedule is filled with some tough teams.
“But, we’re not going to underestimate ourselves either or cut ourselves short, that’s for sure,” she said.
The Mustangs lost to Scotts Valley, 16-2, in the teams’ Pacific Coast Athletic League Gabilan Division opener on Thursday.
Covarrubias said they’re basically going into league play blindfolded because they don’t know much about the teams within the area. But she wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I like it that way,” she said. “Every half is 0-0 and we go out there and do our best. That’s our mentality, I hate being overconfident. If anything I like to feel like we’re behind so we can continue to get better.”
Coleman added that it doesn’t get any easier with league underway and they’re ready to take the challenge despite having a young program.
“It doesn’t matter how many girls they have on there that have played club or what club they play for, let’s take everyone on and let’s at the very least not walk away having a team outplay us,” he said.
The Mustangs will host Salinas High today at 5:30pm.
Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that Courtney Miller was a sophomore on the Monte Vista Christian girls’ lacrosse team, which is incorrect. Miller is a junior at the school.
