“We’ve drawn up plays for Meagan on that post and you have to be able to rise to the occasion,” Wright said. “It’s a game I thought we should have won. … We just could not get it done. I’ll be honest, some of the girls looked a little starstruck.”

The loss dropped CSM to 2-2 in Coast Conference play and 6-8 overall. The Bulldogs held a two-goal lead, 3-1, late in the first quarter but could not finish off the Seahawks. While it was the Bulldogs who led early, it was Cabrillo in control down the stretch. With the scored tied at 7 heading into the fourth quarter, the Seahawks scored two goals within 28 seconds of each other midway through the quarter to put the pressure on CSM. Caitlin Jacobson beat CSM goalie Nicole Soluki to the far left post from the right wing to put Cabrillo up 8-7 with 4:58 left to play. Moments later, Marian Tanner stole a sloppy mid-pool CSM pass and broke in on Soluki. The CSM defender recovered, but Tanner suddenly stopped and her defender swam by. Tanner calmly put the ball in the back of the cage to put the Seahawks up 9-7 with 4:30 left to play.

“Once again, we beat ourselves,” Wright said. “We played great halfcourt ‘D,’ but it wasn’t as if their halfcourt offense beat us.”

CSM cut its deficit to one, 9-8, with just under three minutes to play. Following a foul, Larissa Crossfield buried a long-range shot from the perimeter before the Cabrillo defense could re-set.

Thirty seconds later, however, Whitaker made her first big save of the final minutes. CSM hole set Rocio Medina, who scored three goals for the Bulldogs, got one of her only good chances in the fourth quarter. The ball was dumped into Medina, who had the inside position on her defender. Her point-blank shot, however, was blocked by Whitaker.

“We had a great opportunity with Rocio in the set,” Wright said. “She probably had more time than she thought.”

Given the suspension of athletics in the county, the Daily Journal decided to dive into our 20-year archives to bring readers some of our favorite stories over the years.

Cabrillo jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead just over a minute into the game when Jacobson, in a preview of things to come, lofted a scoring shot over the out-stretched hands of Soluki. CSM responded by scoring the next three goals, all on man-advantages. Shields tied the score at 1 off an assist from Anna Krejci. Shields received the ball on the right wing and fired a shot that slipped inside the far left post. Three minutes later, the Bulldogs took a 2-1 lead on a goal from Lily Arnaundo from the perimeter point. Krejci made it 3-1 with 2:16 left in the first quarter when she scored from the right wing. Cabrillo got one goal before the end of the quarter when Lindsay Bridges scored from the hole set.

Defense ruled the second quarter. Cabrillo scored twice to take a 4-3 lead but Medina, who was double teamed for most of the first quarter, found herself in single coverage and took advantage, burying a shot from two meters to tie the score going into halftime.

The teams went back and forth in the third quarter. Medina’s two goals both tied the game and Krejci’s goal with the shot clock winding down tied the match at 7 going into the final eight minutes.

“Ninety-five percent (of the time), we set it up (correctly). The other 5 percent we’re not putting the ball in the net,” Wright said. “Failure to execute is our No. 1 problem.”