Ellie McEvilley (9) of Tam draws Marin Academy defenders to her before passing to teammate Kate Carvalho (27) who scored at the North Coast Section Division I first round match in San Rafael, Calif. on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. No. 9 Tam defeated No. 8 Marin Academy 11-9. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
Carson Cann (13) of Tam closes in on Paige Frederickson (17) of Marin Academy at the North Coast Section Division I first round match in San Rafael, Calif. on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. No. 9 Tam defeated No. 8 Marin Academy 11-9. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
Cece Dickinson (1) of Marin Academy looks to pass the ball as a Tam defender moves in on her at North Coast Section Division I first round match in San Rafael, Calif. on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. No. 9 Tam defeated No. 8 Marin Academy 11-9. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
Francesca Daniels (6) of Marin Academy works to get to the net as Tam defenders Ande Kelle (20), on her left and Colette Hale (6) move in on her at the North Coast Section Division I girls lacrosse first round match in San Rafael, Calif. on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. No. 9 Tam defeated No. 8 Marin Academy 11-9. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
Brooklyn Hatch (8) of Tam takes a shot as a Marin Academy defender moves in on her at the North Coast Section Division I girls lacrosse first round match in San Rafael, Calif. on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. No. 9 Tam defeated No. 8 Marin Academy 11-9. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
Carson Cann (13) of Tam passes the ball while being defended by Cece Dickinson (1) of Marin Academy at the North Coast Section Division I girls lacrosse first round match between Marin Academy and in San Rafael, Calif. on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. No. 9 Tam defeated No. 8 Marin Academy 11-9. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
Tam goalie Jamie Lemberg (0) makes a save on a Marin Academy ball at the North Coast Section Division I first round match in San Rafael, Calif. on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. No. 9 Tam defeated No. 8 Marin Academy 11-9. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
Sarah Cormier (28) of Tam is greeted by teammates after scoring again Marin Academy at the North Coast Section Division I first round match in San Rafael, Calif. on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. No. 9 Tam defeated No. 8 Marin Academy 11-9. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
Kirsten Wang (2) of Marin Academy works to get by a Tam defender at the North Coast Section Division I first round match in San Rafael, Calif. on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. No. 9 Tam defeated No. 8 Marin Academy 11-9. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
Cece Dickinson (1) of Marin Academy shoots and scores after a Tam penalty at the North Coast Section Division I first round match in San Rafael, Calif. on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. No. 9 Tam defeated No. 8 Marin Academy 11-9. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
Lily Weaver (3) of Marin Academy shoots and scores between a pair of Tam defenders at the North Coast Section Division I first round match in San Rafael, Calif. on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. No. 9 Tam defeated No. 8 Marin Academy 11-9. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
Quinlin Dayton (24) of Tam, at the far right, is followed by her teammates after scoring against Tam at the North Coast Section Division I first round match in San Rafael, Calif. on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. No. 9 Tam defeated No. 8 Marin Academy 11-9. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
Steph Zola (14) of Marin Academy controls the ball as Lexi Watts (1) of Tam moves in to defend at the North Coast Section Division I first round match in San Rafael, Calif. on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. No. 9 Tam defeated No. 8 Marin Academy 11-9. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
Steph Zola (14) of Marin Academy maintains control of the ball after colliding with a Tam defender at the North Coast Section Division I first round match in San Rafael, Calif. on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. No. 9 Tam defeated No. 8 Marin Academy 11-9. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
Carson Cann (13) of Tam gets in front of a pair of Marin Academy defenders before passing to teammate Rowie Scobie (25) of Tam for an assist at the North Coast Section Division I first round match in San Rafael, Calif. on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. No. 9 Tam defeated No. 8 Marin Academy 11-9. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
Kate Carvalho (27) of Tam shoots and scores through a trio of Marin Catholic defenders at the North Coast Section Division I first round match in San Rafael, Calif. on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. No. 9 Tam defeated No. 8 Marin Academy 11-9. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
Tam and Marin Academy brought home the North Coast Section Division II girls lacrosse pennants the past two seasons between them. As a reward, they were both promoted to Division I status this season, but they opened the playoffs Tuesday, they found themselves locked in a familiar matchup again.
The No. 9 Red-tailed Hawks held off a furious pursuit from the No. 8 Wildcats for an 11-9 victory over the BCL champions at San Rafael High’s Miller Field. Tam (10-8) advances to Thursday’s showdown with top-seeded San Ramon Valley (17-1), the defending NCS D-I champion.
“We were so happy to get this matchup,” said Sarah Cormier, who scored three goals for Tam. “This was a big game for us. We wanted some revenge after the last game against Marin Academy when we just didn’t play like ourselves. But we’ve been playing some good games recently and came in with some momentum.”
Marin Academy defeated Tam, 10-8, in a March 13 contest in Mill Valley, but the Red-tailed Hawks looked more like a championship contender on Tuesday.
“It’s really exciting to play D-I,” Cormier said. “There are a lot of good teams in this bracket. We played a lot of tough teams in the regular season, and we’re coming in strong.”
Neither team was able to gain an advantage early in Tuesday’s matchup, as it took 7 1/2 minutes before Tam’s Rowie Scobie scored the game’s first goal. Scobie finished with three goals.
“That’s a long time without any scoring. It’s tiring,” Wildcats coach Cori Conner said.
Marin Academy (11-4) came back with goals on its first two shots of the game by Elsa Anderson and Steph Zola, just 20 seconds apart. The Wildcats won the faceoff after Anderson’s goal and Zola took the ball straight to the net to beat Tam goalie Jamie Lemberg at shoulder level for a 2-1 Wildcats lead.
Tam rallied with three goals in the final 2 minutes of the first period. The Hawks’ Brooklyn Hatch grabbed a turnover and raced 70 yards to slam the ball into the net. Graciela Hale and Quinlin Dayton both found the net after carving a path through traffic for a 4-2 Tam lead after the first 12 minutes.
A goal on a penalty shot from Marin Academy’s Sadie Goodenough was the only scoring in the second period as Tam adjusted to the Wildcats defense. Goodenough and Anderson finished with three goals each for the Wildcats.
The Red-tailed Hawks kept the ball on their sticks, giving up fewer turnovers as they got into the swing of the game. Kate Carvalho scored the first of her two goals just 1 1/2 minutes into the second half as she found a route to the net. Scobie and Cormier followed quickly with scores for a 6-3 advantage in the third period.
Marin Academy regained some ground with back-to-back goals within 15 seconds of each other. Team co-captain Cece Dickinson bounced a penalty shot into the net, then Anderson took a pass in front of the goal for a quick shot. The two sides exchanged goals in the final 2 minutes, with Tam leading 9-6 after three periods.
Tam looked to close the game out with goals by Scobie and Cormier in the first couple minutes of the final period, but Marin Academy had other ideas.
Anderson powered her way through Tam’s defense for a goal with 6:54 left on the clock. A four-goal deficit seemed almost insurmountable, but there was still plenty of time on the clock. Then, Goodenough added a goal and the Wildcats were down by three with 5 minutes left. A penalty shot goal by Zola with 3:22 left to play cut Tam’s lead to just two.
Tam won the ensuing faceoff and killed the rest of the time on the clock without even taking a shot to dash any hopes the Wildcats had of a comeback.
“It’s never easy to have that end-of-season talk with the team,” Conner said. “This is one of the best teams I’ve coached. They’ve come through a lot this season, and it hurts that I won’t see them as often until next season.”
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