The Mission Bay girls lacrosse team closed out a remarkable season on May 10 that saw them finish on top of the league standings (9-1). After winning the regular-season opener versus Del Lago Academy on Feb. 21, the Bucs dropped the next three matches to Point Loma, El Capitan, and University City before turning things around by going on a six-game win streak.

“We saw how much growing we needed to do pretty early in the season with a ton of new players,” said head coach Hayley Burke. “I was proud of the team this year.”

With only three returning seniors, Mission Bay went from finishing with only a couple of wins in 2023 to an 11-5 overall record this season while only having three seniors on the squad before falling to Castle Park in the playoff quarterfinals.

Among the team’s standout performers was goalie Sydney Kidd, who, despite being injured the majority of the season, stayed involved and returned in time for the final matches. Midfielder Iris Brogan and teammate Richie Lynn Nguyen stepped up big when they were called upon to impact offense and defense.

“The girls ultimately bought in and impacted how the season ended,” Burke added. “I feel like having a tough season last year, our learned lesson was setting small goals and just taking it day by day. I’m sad to lose the seniors, but I’m pretty excited to have a ton of returners next year to pick up where we left off.”

Mission Bay outscored its opponents 164 to 116 during the regular season, which included back-to-back shutouts over Lincoln on March 18 and Hilltop on March 23 by a combined scoreline of 35-0 along with a forfeit victory over Preuss UCSD on April 29.

“Once we learned we had a chance of making the playoffs, we set a bigger goal of going for league champion and making it as far as we could,” said Burke.

PHOTO BY STEVE SIDELL