The San Diego Section girls lacrosse playoffs are scheduled to start next week — Division I on Friday, May 4, and Division II on Saturday, May 5.
Possible play-in games are scheduled for Thursday, May 3.
Quarterfinal-round playoff games are scheduled May 5 (Open Division), May 7 (Division I) and May 8 (Division II).
Semifinals are scheduled May 9-10. A championship triple-header tops off the season May 12 at San Dieguito High School.
Eastlake High School earned an automatic entry into this year’s Division I playoffs after securing rights to this year’s Mesa League championship with their latest pair of wins.
The Titans defeated host Bonita Vista, 12-2, last Thursday and topped visiting Otay Ranch, 15-7, on Monday.
Eastlake, 7-0 in league play, 15-1 overall, is set to close out regular season play with a final league game Thursday, April 26, at Mar Vista.
The league championship is the first for the Titans during coach Robert Blas’s 10-year coaching history at the school to set a milestone for the program.
Eastlake’s best finish in the section playoffs was its runner-up finish to Otay Ranch in the 2016 Division II championship game.
The Titans lost, 11-10, to Otay Ranch in last year’s Division I quarterfinals.
The stars finally aligned this season for Eastlake with a sweep of both league games against Otay Ranch.
The playoffs could offer a bonus for this year’s Titan squad that boasts eight seniors and 11 juniors.
Team chemistry is a definite strength with this group, Blas noted.
“A lot of the girls have been together since their freshman year — they play well together,” the EHS coach said.
Cori Montero, Kika Funk and Erika Farrage each scored three goals in the win at Bonita Vista while Percilla Mayer, Alexis Morris and Kamdyn Purvis each scored single goals.
Goalkeeper Gloriana Hinojosa was credited with seven saves.
The Titans built an 8-4 halftime lead in Monday’s game and out-scored the visiting Mustangs 7-3 in the second half.
Otay Ranch dropped to 4-2 in league play, 7-7 overall, following Monday’s loss. The Mustangs are hoping to land a seed in the upcoming Division I field along with league rival Hilltop (4-3 in league, 8-5 overall) in Division II.
Mar Vista (1-4-1 in league, 5-9-2 overall) and Bonita Vista (0-6-1 in league, 2-15-1 overall) round out the Mesa League standings.
Olympian (5-1 in league, 13-4 overall) and Montgomery (4-1 in league, 7-7 overall) appear to be the front-runners in the South Bay League. The teams meet in the final regular season game Monday, April 30, at Montgomery.
Olympian has the third best winning percentage (.765) among Division II schools.
