Portola reaches CIF lacrosse finals for first time with win over PCL rival Northwood

Portola’s scoring leaders Monday were (left) Jadyn Zdanavage and Jadyn Kohan. (Photo: TIm Burt, OC Sports Zone).

Portola’s third victory of the season over Northwood had special significance.

The Bulldogs lacrosse team took control early and went on to defeat the host Timberwolves 13-4 in the CIF Division 3 semifinals Monday afternoon to earn a trip to the finals Saturday at 10 a.m. vs. Huntington Beach at Downey High School.

It will mark Portola’s first trip to the CIF finals.

Top-seeded Portola, coming off the first league title in school history, defeated Northwood twice during PCL play.

“I was concerned, they’re a good team and they’ve gotten better,” said Portola Coach Jeralyn Newton referring to Northwood. “They had a more challenging run to get to this point than we have, so we knew they had been battling. And we were ready.”

Portola (20-1) moved out to a 7-1 lead in the first half and led 9-2 after the opening 25 minutes before sealing the win.

“It’s just incredible, it’s the farthest any team in the history of the program for girls lacrosse has ever gone, so that’s huge just to be a part of it, it’s an honor,” said Newton.

Portola was led by senior Jadyn Zdanavage  (eight goals, one assist) and junior Jadyn Kohan (four goals).

Sophomore Malaika Fawzi had the other goal for Portola, which was cheered on by other athletes from the school. Fawzi also had an assist, seven ground balls and caused three turnovers, according to stats provided by Portola lacrosse. Amy Bebawy had five saves for Portola, which had 22 groundballs and caused eight turnovers.

Skylar Leung had two goals, and Amelia Wagner and Nikki Sanders one goal each for Coach Nathan Parr’s Northwood team which defeated Santa Monica 12-9 to reach the semfinals.

Portola’s offensive firepower, led by Zdanavage, a four-sport standout who is headed to University of Michigan to run cross country and track, turned out to be the difference.

“They’re phenomenal, their legacy is incredible, two of them working together and working independently and the goals say a lot, but their leadership on the field is what stands out the most,” Newton said of the Portola standouts. “They keep our entire unit together and uplifted.”

“It was a really hard fought win, I’m really proud of our group, we’ve been working all year and we played Northwood a few times earler in the year, so I’ I’m just really proud that we were able to come out on top,” said Zdanavage, who has also been an excellent basketball player for Portola.

“We knew it was going to be hard because the more times that you’re playing a team is going to be more challenging every time because we know them better and they know us better so we were definitely a little nervous on the way in but ultimitately we had a lot of help and trust in one another and because of that we were able to rally around each other. It was a very well played game.

“It’s been an awesome year, when I came in as a freshman, I wasn’t expecting any of this. I was just playing because I love playing and I wanted to help elevate our program and to see us win league this year and be in the final later this week, I’m just really excited to see what we can do. We have grown a lot over these past years and it’s been awesome to see what we’ve been doing. Our girls have been playing great and practicing really hard.”

RELATED

Updated CIF girls and boys lacrosse playoff schedule for final week of season

—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com