Del Oro falls to Oak Ridge in OT championship thriller

Oak Ridge and Del Oro split their regular-season lacrosse meetings, both winning on their home field by a 14-9 score. The Trojans, the defending Sac-Joaquin Section champions, entered the game as the No. 1 seed while the younger, up-and-coming Golden Eagles were the No. 2 seed. The girls' section championship lacrosse game featured the two best teams and everyone knew before the game it would be a battle to the end and it was. The score was tied 11-11 at the end of regulation and went to sudden-death overtime. Del Oro's Sydney Weber, a sophomore, was a tough match-up in the circle for the Trojans and won the draw in overtime, giving the Golden Eagles the first shot at the win. Weber's sister, Riley, who finished with a game-high six goals, controlled the ball and set up the Del Oro offense. She passed the ball to another sophomore, Ellie Rivera, who bounced a shot toward Oak Ridge senior goalie Kaley Gunning, who made the save. At the other end of the field, Oak Ridge senior Annika Tanner got the ball after a few passes, beat Riley Weber around a corner and saw no one between her and Del Oro senior goalie Cameron Koepke. "I saw an open lane and I just took it," Tanner said. "I knew our team needed it and just went there. I shot it five hole, a bouncer between her legs." The ball went into the net for the winning goal, sending the Trojans into celebration mode, as the veteran team featuring 11 seniors won their second straight section title. Del Oro's Grace Sjolie scored the first goal and the Golden Eagles jumped out to a 6-2 lead late in the first quarter. Tanner scored her first goal, followed by three consecutive goals to start the second quarter by Alyssa Brady, as the Trojans closed the deficit to 7-6 by halftime. Another good start in the second half led to a second four-goal advantage for the Golden Eagles at 10-6 with 9:10 to play in the third quarter. From there, Oak Ridge, very slowly and methodically, outscored the Golden Eagles 6-1 over the game's final 22 minutes. Del Oro's final goal came early in the fourth quarter when Riley Weber scored her sixth of the game with 11:13 to play. Del Oro still led 11-8, but Oak Ridge sophomore Rebecca Platt scored her fourth goal of the game less than a minute later to bring the Trojans to within 11-9. With 5:23 to play, the game got tight after a goal by Oak Ridge senior Sofia Williams. Another Oak Ridge senior, Shayla Takkunen, found the back of the net with 48.3 seconds to play to tie the score. Oak Ridge coach Chris Gehrke said his team never quit. "We've played from down before," Gehrke said. "We've been to championship games before. We've been there. We know what it takes. Watching that extra effort at the very end, we had 11 seniors and they didn't want their season to end in a loss. What you saw out there was just grit and determination and they weren't going to finish in second place." Added Tanner, "It feels amazing to win this game. We all wanted it so badly and in the end we played together as a team and it paid off. We wanted it more at the end. It feels so good. It was a close game, but we pulled through." While Oak Ridge celebrated, Del Oro was devastated, as a section championship they wanted so badly slipped away. Coach Steve Weber was proud of his team. "The girls gutted it out, and they played like champions," Weber said. "We have a young roster, and the future is trending up. They've (Oak Ridge) been the dynasty for a number of years, but we're ready to knock them off that perch. This just adds fuel to the fire." Rivera and Lauren Snay scored two goals each for the Golden Eagles. Both will return next year. Platt led the Trojans with four goals, while Tanner and Alyssa Brady scored three. Williams and Takkunen both scored one each.