Menlo Girls' Lacrosse Edges Poway in Showdown Between State Powers

Michaela Michael scored with nine seconds left in the game, and the Menlo School girls’ lacrosse team edged visiting Poway of San Diego 15-14 in an exciting non-league match Wednesday at home.

It was one of nine goals for Michael, a junior who had a season-high 11 points with two assists as well. Menlo, which improves to 7-4 overall, is ranked ninth in the state, and Poway, a perennial San Diego powerhouse, is ranked No. 14.

In the opening five minutes, Poway jumped out to a 3-0 lead before Menlo tied it with a free shot by junior Ali Kim and a pair of goals by Michael. Poway’s Vickie Porter scored twice before Menlo evened it up at 5 with just a few minutes later with back-to-back goals from Michael. Menlo took a 10-5 lead when seniors Elyse Adler and Savannah McKinnon, Kim, Michael and Kayci Lacob scored during a 5-0 run. With just 11 seconds left in the half, Porter scored for Poway.

Trailing 10-6 at the half, Poway mounted an attack, and brought it within two in the first five minutes of the half. Menlo seemed to be pulling away when they got the score to 14-9 with 13:25 left in the game. Three goals came from Michael and one from senior Annie Taylor (beautifully fed by junior Brooke Bullington). Poway scored the next five in a row to tie it before Michael scored what would be the winning goal for Menlo

“It was an intense finish to a dramatic second half,” Menlo coach Jen Lee said.

Menlo junior Hannah Rubin recorded six saves against a strong team. Menlo returns to West Bay Athletic league action at 5:30 p.m. at Burlingame on April 17.

Scoring – M: Michael 9, Kim 2, Adler, Lacob, McKinnon, A. Taylor. P: Porter 5, Shoemaker 4, Amabile 2, Hall 2, Cooper. Assists – M:Michael 2, Madeira 2, Bullington. P: A. Shoemaker, K. Shoemaker. Saves – M: Rubin 6. P: Akin 2.

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