By Justin HAGER

One year ago, the Village Christian Crusaders girls’ lacrosse team defeated the Crescenta Valley Falcons 10-9 in a sudden death overtime. This year, it was the Falcons turn to return the favor in one of the most exciting games in recent memory.

The Crusaders scored first and continued to score early and often, eventually taking a 6-2 lead with just under eight minutes remaining in the first half. But then the Falcons turned on the jets, netting two goals in 40 seconds and four more in the remaining five minutes to go into halftime with an 8-6 lead. Both teams tightened up their defense in the second half and closed out regulation play tied 10-10. That’s when sisters Camden and Brianne Ballard, the daughters of coach Brent Ballard, connected on a pass from Brianne to Camden, who scored the goal and won the match for CV.

A glowing Coach Ballard said that he was extremely proud of both his girls and the team as a whole. He also applauded Village Christian and its continuous fight to the finish.

“It’s the overtime agony of sports,” he said. “It’s becoming a pretty good rivalry (with Village Christian) and this time it went our way. I’m extremely proud of these girls.”

Over on the boys’ field, the Falcon’s have been dominant. They continued their winning streak over the weekend, defeating Norco 15-1 on Saturday, March 5. Senior Henry Kaufman led the team in scoring with five goals against Norco and six goals earlier in the week in the match up against Calabasas on March 2. Kaufman also had five assists in those games. They currently stand at 5-0 overall and have outscored their opponents 76-11 thus far in their 2022 campaign. They take on Grace Brethren in non-league play today.