Sports
Gilmour's Overtime Goal Gives El Toro a 13-12 Win over Santa Margarita
Senior midfielder scores nine goals — the final two tying score with 36 seconds left and then winning game in overtime — to push No. 6 Chargers past No. 4 Eagles in girls lacrosse.
El Toro's girls lacrosse team trailed by a goal with less than two minutes remaining in a see-saw contest with Santa Margarita Wednesday afternoon, but there was little doubt who would get the ball to attempt to tie the score. She did, and then some.
El Toro senior co-captain Kyle Gilmour took a pass from the other co-captain, Megan Guilfoyle, and scored with 36 seconds left to tie the score at 12. Then with 1:08 left in the six-minute overtime, Gilmour scored again -- her ninth goal of the game -- off an assist by Nikki Taylor, and the Chargers made it stand as the game-winner in a thrilling 13-12 victory over the Eagles at Glen Yermo Elementary School in Mission Viejo.
The nonleague game between fourth-ranked Santa Margarita (9-2) and sixth-ranked El Toro (6-6) featured 11 ties, including 5-5 at halftime, and five lead changes. The largest lead was 9-7 Eagles with 13:48 left in the game, but Gilmour and Guilfoyle quickly erased that advantage with two goals on two assists, respectively, within 34 seconds to tie the score at 10.
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“Megan and Kylie work so well together, lately we’ve been calling them 'Kygan' or 'Meglie,'" Chargers coach Scott Craycraft said. “When they’ve got the ball, they can make things happen. It’s magical.”
It would take something nearly magical for the Chargers to finally get past Santa Margarita. The Eagles led twice with 5:30 remaining on goals by junior Adrienne Anderson, her third, and sophomore Lena Huebscher with 2:00 left. But each time Gilmour would tie the score. The first came when she stole the ball deep inside the Chargers' territory and ran end-to-end for an unassisted goal. The second came on Guilfoyle’s fourth assist to tie the score with 4:23 remaining,
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“After that, I was dead,” Gilmour admitted. “I was so tired.”
But Gilmour provided that last big shot for the Chargers, scoring the winning goal on another one of her drives down the middle, shooting low past Eagles senior goalkeeper Sarah Talbot, who finished with 11 saves after facing 17 shots.
“I was on adrenaline, mostly,” Gilmour added.
El Toro goalie Danica Kristiansen again was solid in the cage. Kristiansen made 13 saves but four of those came in overtime, when she didn’t allow a goal.
“She’s a strong goalie,” Eagles coach Cressita Bowman said of Kristiansen. “I think our girls played good and I’m pleased with our proficiency. We just lost some pretty crucial draws and they controlled the ball at the end. It was a very good game.”
Junior Erin Griffen added two goals for the Chargers, who will travel to Trabuco Hills for a 5:30 p.m. game on Friday. Santa Margarita has two big games next week on the road, at St. Margaret’s on April 12 and then at top-ranked Los Alamitos on April 14.
