Trailing by four goals with just under three minutes to play in the game, the girls varsity lacrosse team nearly pulled off a late comeback in the Marin County Athletic League (MCAL) championship before falling short to Marin Catholic on Saturday, May 1, with a final score of 8-7.

After scoring three goals in the final two minutes and 30 seconds, the Giants had one last chance to tie the game.

However, junior attacker Ellie Washing wasn’t able to get a shot off on an 8-meter free position attempt as time expired.

The game opened in Redwood’s favor as freshman midfielder Grace Davis scored first, followed by senior attacker Lucy Miller and senior midfielder Nina Baker.

The Giants carried this 3-1 lead heading into the start of the second quarter.

Redwood was able to control the pace early, while matching Marin Catholic’s initial intensity and becoming comfortable with the high-pressure championship atmosphere that was present.

The Giants did a great job of maintaining long possessions throughout.

Sophomore defender Mira Nass emphasized how important it was that the team fed off of each other’s energy in the opening stretch.

“We were all very fired up and had composed energy,” Nass said. “We were able to focus [the energy] into things that we wanted to execute on the field.”

Nass also talked about how they fed off one anothers’ energy.

“We were all bouncing off each other’s energy that we were putting out there,” Nass said. “It helped us stay calm while also keeping high levels of focus.”

Marin Catholic responded in the second quarter, scoring three unanswered goals to take a 4-3 lead headed into halftime.

The Wildcats carried that momentum into the third quarter, scoring three more and holding the Giants scoreless. This gave Marin Catholic a 7-3 lead heading into the final 12 minutes.

Despite the score gap widening, the Giants stayed strong and didn’t fold.

Baker opened the fourth quarter scoring her second goal of the afternoon, cutting the Wildcats’ lead to three before they answered to make it 8-4 with just under eight minutes remaining.

Redwood was stuck at down with about three minutes remaining before their final push began. Lucy Miller scored with about two minutes and 30 seconds left, then junior attacker Claire Johnson followed just over one minute later.

Then, with 38 seconds left, Davis added her second goal of the game to cut the deficit to one. 

Assistant Coach Billie Buck credited the nearly overtime-forcing three-goal surge to individual players’ leadership in the closing minutes.

“It was players like Nina Baker, Phoebe Miller and Claire Johnson saying, ‘We gotta go. We gotta do this,’ and them really stepping up,” Buck said.

Junior midfielder Phoebe Miller said the final stretch reflected the team’s resilience, even if that urgency came too late.

“It just hurt that we got so close,” Phoebe Miller said. “It shows how much grit and fight that we have to give, mainly in the fourth quarter. But it was just very disappointing that we couldn’t find that next gear sooner in the game.”

After falling to Marin Catholic in the MCAL championship a year ago, the Giants rebounded to win the North Coast Section (NCS) title, a path they now hope to repeat.

“We were in this exact same spot last year,” Phoebe Miller said.

“We beat Marin Catholic in the regular season, lost to them in the MCAL championships, and then ended up winning NCS.”

For the team, the close loss ended their MCAL championship goal, but not the season.

After nearly erasing a four goal Marin Catholic lead in the final minutes, the Giants left with a reminder they will carry into NCS.

“It ain’t over till it’s over,” Buck said. “And we just have to keep going.”