Santa Barbara High freshman Mia Barton (14) scored five goals for the Dons on Thursday.
The Santa Barbara girls lacrosse team defeated Dos Pueblos 12-6 during a Channel League matchup on Thursday evening at Peabody Stadium.
The Dons were led by the outstanding performances of Mia Barton and Bella Gniadek, who scored five goals apiece.
“Overall, there were a lot of turnovers during this game for both teams,” said Santa Barbara co-head coach Kristin Boehm. “The midfielders did an impressive job of running it down the field to the offense, defending, and slowing down their opponents.”
The Dons started off strong against the Chargers, with Barton scoring the first goal within the first thirty seconds. Her goal was closely followed by another from Gniadek.
During the first half, both squads had equal possession of the ball and midfielders from both sides had fast sprints down the field.
“Our defense used great body positioning to block the opponents from shooting, and our offensive players showed off their stick skills to get around the defense and go to goal,” added coach Boehm.
After falling behind early, Dos Pueblos stepped up their intensity and kept the Santa Barbara’s defense on their feet with continuous passing and cutting on offense.
Heading into the second half, the Dons led by a score of 6-3. Although Santa Barbara won the first draw control of the second half, Dos Pueblos had possession of the ball for a large portion of the half, and won most of the draw controls thereafter.
Midfielder Kate Mascari won many of the ground balls, and was able to get a few steals for the Dons. Defender Maggie Wilde also got a critical turnover that led to another goal for Santa Barbara. Goalkeeper Rachyl Beksa finished with 9 saves on the day.
