The562’s coverage of Lakewood Athletics is sponsored by J.P. Crawford, Class of 2013.
The562’s coverage of Millikan athletics in the 2023-24 school year is sponsored by Curtis Boyer.
The Rams celebrated Senior Night on Tuesday evening as they hosted Lakewood in the second matchup of a doubleheader. Millikan’s Audrey Stewart celebrated her senior night in a big way, scoring a game-high five goals including four in the first half in the Rams’ 13-3 win.
Stewart was recently named the girls’ soccer offensive player of the year in the Moore League, and says she learned to channel her competitive spirit from soccer into lacrosse after picking up the sport a few years ago.
“I started lacrosse because I didn’t want to do soccer off-seasons, but I ended up getting really competitive with it,” said Stewart. “I think lacrosse is really fun and I like being able to be a player who’s depended on to make a difference.”
Stewart opened the game’s scoring with a goal in the opening minutes of play. Madalyn Flores and Madison Hamm also found the back of the net in the first quarter, before Stewart nailed another one through to end a 4-0 opening period.
“Audrey always gives a spark for the team,” said Millikan coach Marlene Boyd. “So even if nothing is happening the team is always saying, ‘get it to Audrey, get it to Audrey.’ So it’s gonna be sad to see Audrey go (when she graduates), but giving everyone else the opportunity to give the team a spark and see who’s gonna step up next is gonna be interesting to see.”
The Lancers were forced to play without a goalie due to a mishap with protection gear, which allowed for easier shots on goal for the Millikan attack. The Rams doubled their scoring in the second quarter with goals from Remie Fruchter, Madison Caceras, and another pair from Stewart. Lakewood found their first goal of the game midway through the second from Pina Uigaese to send the Lancers to the break trailing 8-1.
“(I told them) that it’s gonna be tough with no goalie in the game,” said Lakewood coach Fernando Viramontes. “So I think we tried to just go into it with a positive mindset to have fun and let the chips fall where they may. I think the girls came out, just with one sub, and did the best they could and the outcome was not the worst.”
With the advantage and the lead, Boyd saw an opportunity to substitute different combinations of players into the game. After the game she said that she likes changing up her lineup and enjoys giving her younger players a taste of varsity experience.
“I (substitute that much) every now and again but just to see which four work well on the attack, but I also did it just because they were without a goalie, so I decided everyone was going to play today. I thought let’s just see who could go in and be the right combo and see how they can all mesh together. So just changing it up and I also have a lot of future players so a lot of players who will play next year were able to get in and get some experience.”
Coming out of the half Lakewood’s Leslie Gonzalez and Millikan’s Hamm traded the only two goals of the third quarter. Ryleigh Tubbs, Nicola Helin, and Stewart added three more for Millikan in the fourth while Lakewood found one last score from Brianna Del Orbe as the Rams went on to win it, 13-3.
Stewart added one assist to her game-high five goals, meanwhile Hamm finished with two goals and an assist. Helin chipped in her single goal alongside two assists.
Both teams will look ahead to Downey as the Rams will face the Vikings on Thursday at Wilson meanwhile Lakewood will be at Downey next Tuesday.
