Sudden-death shootout goal secures Mt. Carmel’s first field hockey section title

As the clock ticked down in Saturday’s CIF San Diego Section Division 1 field hockey championship at La Jolla High School, No. 6 La Costa Canyon trailed by a goal and had four corners in the final minute.

All top-seeded Mt. Carmel had to do was get the ball out.

Then Mavericks forward Ella Steele scored from point-blank range to tie the game and force overtime.

After no score in both overtime periods, a one-on-one shootout ensued. After five sessions, both teams scored twice leading to sudden victory one-on-one.

Following a missed goal from La Costa Canyon’s Annika Evenskas, Mt. Carmel’s Naiya Abalos stepped up. Abalos found the back of the net and gave Mt. Carmel a 3-2 sudden-death win and a section title.

“I was really stressed out,” said Abalos, who scored twice in the penalty session. “I was like, ‘You need to do this. You need to go and win.’ ”

Opening the scoring for the Sundevils (16-8-1) was Quinn Van Doren with 12:05 left in the second quarter against the Mavericks (10-15-2).

“I always think that getting a goal as soon as possible pushes the team to get hype and just brings up our energy,” Van Doren said. “I got a stroke, I just thought I was like, ‘OK, I have to lift it. I tend to like the top corners, and decent at lift.’ So, I decided I was going to lift the top corner.”

With the win, it is also Mt. Carmel’s first field hockey section title.

“It absolutely means the world to me,” Sundevils coach Taylor Lewis said. “I was an alumni. This is not something that I could have imagined when I played.”

Division 2: No. 2 Eastlake 0 (5), No. 1 Del Norte 0 (4)

Just like the Division 1 championship game, one-on-ones were needed to determine the winner.

However, after Del Norte’s Sanyu Thom-Goulding’s penalty stroke was saved by Titans goalie Emma Brown, it set up Emily Burgon to provide the heroics.

The sophomore got past Del Norte goalie Gabriella Datanagan and found the back of the net to give Eastlake a 5-4 shootout win and its first section title since 2018.

“We’ve been working on it all season,” Burgon said of penalty shootouts. “(My mentality was) to stay composed. Win or lose, it’s OK no matter what. (I wanted to) have a plan and wanted to do good for my teammates.”

Samara Maldonado, who is one of seven seniors for Eastlake (18-1-2), said winning her final field hockey game is a dream come true.

“I’m honestly so happy because we get to go out with a bang,” said Maldonado as both she and Burgon scored both of their opportunities in the shootout session. “It feels really great because it’s the last season and everything ended picture-perfect.”

Del Norte (15-5) had its chances with six corners in the fourth quarter and five between both overtimes.

However, Eastlake’s defense proved too much as it has not allowed a regulation or overtime goal since their last non-victory, a 1-1 tie on Sept. 27 during the University City Tournament in late September.

“They’re a brick wall, all of them,” Eastlake head coach Bridie Burgon said of her defense. “They work well together. They know each other’s movements.”