Middie Ella Stephens had a hat trick with 11:11 left in the game, and Stella Artukovich on attack added another five goals as La Jolla’s lacrosse team out-scored Scripps Ranch 8-2 in the second half for a 17-7 final in a recent Western League game between the two rivals.

The Vikings and Falcons have traded the last two Open Division championships, Scripps delivering a dominating 10-3 victory in the 2021 final, and La Jolla “gaining a little redemption,” in the words of Artukovich, with a 9-8 win in 2022.

But that’s all history, and coach Kitty Cullen’s Vikings have been faced with meshing five freshmen with eight returning seniors this Spring after eight players graduated last June.

Adding to the Western League intrigue, Cullen’s co-coach for several years at the coastal school, Sam Farrell was plucked away by Cathedral Catholic this year to take over coaching duties there. So Artukovich and her fellow seniors have competed against the mentor they played for together in club ball for several years.

“It was definitely a rocky start this season,” said Stella of the loss of the octet of graduates, with several new, younger players coming in. “We had a lot of games at the start of the schedule. We weren’t able to practice as much in between those games. Now we’ve practiced more (and meshed).”

During the roughest stretch, La Jolla went 3-7, including a 12-2 blowout loss at Torrey Pines. “But we have a lot of strong senior leaders,” said Cullen, mentioning middie Cate Alexander, defender Ashlyn Brunette, and goalie Liv Austin, in addition to Stephens and Artukovich.

Being well-rounded in the classroom and on the turf, Alexander, a 5 feet 5 inches tall middie, plans to pursue a psychology major at Cal in the fall because “psychology can help people build relationships and empathy for others. I really like understanding brain chemistry. I like relationships. I want to work alongside people, and that major will help me,” Cate said, though choosing a career is a ways off.

One strength of those relationships with the Vikings, according to Alexander, is encouraging one another “to get our wall ball time to improve our stick work” outside of formal practice time.

Stephens, who scored all those goals, modestly acknowledged them by saying, “It’s a lot of fun. I think our chemistry was good. We concentrated on the little things.”

Coach Kitty said Brunette has stepped up on defense in her senior year. The 5 feet 3 inches tall 18-year-old is going to enroll at UCLA and pursue a biology major: “Bio is super interesting. I would like to be a physician assistant (PA) to help people. To become a PA, you spend less time in classes and serving a residency.”

On defense, she said, “Talking is key. We’re always talking to each other. Tonight (in the win at home over Scripps) we were trying to get wide (spreading out on attack) and staying locked in on defense. We didn’t want a lull (drop in intensity).”