Girls’ lacrosse: Palos Verdes advances to Southern Section title game

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It’s all over here in Manhattan Beach.

Playing in front of its home crowd, Mira Costa made a late rally but Palos Verdes hung on to win 17-13 and will represent the North Division in ‘the unofficial’ Southern Section finals against the Orange County champion Friday at Trabuco Hills High.

Nikki Solaro and Emma Giddens each netted five goals for the top-seeded Sea Kings, who beat their Bay League rivals for the third time this season. Rocci Medawar was stellar in goal for Palos Verdes, making 10 saves -- half of them from inside five feet.

‘It’s hard to beat a team three at a neutral site when it’s actually their field,’’ Palos Verdes coach Marissa Hewitt said. ‘(Mira Costa) did a great job with the ground balls on this field. It’s artificial turf and we don’t have that. It was a little faster than we are used to. It took a little time for us to adjust.’’

Olivia Archer, who entered the game as Mira Costa’s scoring leader with 56 points, had five goals and an assist.

While Palos Verdes was winning its game, St. Margaret’s and Los Alamitos were playing to determine the Orange County winner.

-- Steve Galluzzo