EARNIE GRAFTON / Union-Tribune La Costa Canyon's Carly Dudek goes heels over head to celebrate the win.

There are some words that have been taboo around the La Costa Canyon girls lacrosse team lately. Words like “perfect,” “undefeated” and “New England Patriots” have been considered jinxes and dare not be spoken.

But now there are no more concerns about hexes. The Mavericks are perfect.

LCC wrapped up a 23-0 season last night with an 11-10 win over Coronado in the section championship at Rancho Bernardo High.

Tara Arolla led all players with five goals to help the Mavericks secure their second straight title. LCC has won 38 consecutive games dating back to last year and is the first section team to complete a season with no losses or ties.

“This is the first time I've said the word 'undefeated' all season,” coach Katie Dolan said. “We knew this would be a back-and-forth game, and if we didn't play our best, we wouldn't win.”

Top-seeded La Costa Canyon survived a late spark from No. 2 Coronado's Coco O'Brien, who scored two goals in the final three minutes to slice the lead to 11-10. But a defensive stand in the final 60 seconds secured the win for LCC.

“The final minute was terrifying,” said LCC goalie Haleh Nourani, who recorded 12 saves, including a point-blank save with a minute left. “I was shaking. But I couldn't let my defense down. They were working so hard for me.”

The Islanders held a lead early in the game. After LCC's Meg Cruse opened the scoring, Coronado's Hannah Sebenaler notched two quick goals to give the Islanders a 2-1 advantage. But it would quickly dissipate as Cruse, Jackie Candelaria and Arolla scored as LCC mounted an 8-4 halftime lead.

The Islanders (23-2) clawed back in the second half on a pair of goals from Bria Phillips and scores from Greer Goebels and Michaela Guerrera and cut the score to 9-8. But Arolla and Candelaria each scored and stretched the lead back to three – setting up the final minutes. Phillips, one of six Islanders to score, led Coronado with three goals.

Coronado coach Jessica Battle credited her team for nearly negating the halftime deficit.

“Against a team like that, you can fall behind in the blink of an eye,” Battle said. “If there were five more minutes on the clock, who knows what could have happened.”

Kevin Gemmell: (619) 718-5304; kevin.gemmell@uniontrib.com