All-Inland Girls Lacrosse: Murrieta Mesa’s Rilie Tull is the IE Varsity Player of the Year (2024)

They were two moments, two years apart and two very different versions of Rilie Tull.

One, as a sophom*ore called up from Murrieta Mesa’s junior varsity lacrosse team, making her varsity debut in the CIF Southern Section playoffs and silently hoping Rams coach Molly Sovacool would point to someone else to enter the game.

Then there was the senior Tull taking charge when the Rams were struggling, and willing her team to victory over Santa Margarita in the first round of the Division 1 playoffs, marking the first time an Inland team had won a Division 1 game.

“I was once that girl who didn’t want to go in and who wasn’t confident at all,” Tull said. “Now I’m the girl who ‘So’ (Sovacool) relies on to add that extra push and effort to the team.”

Tull’s transformation from a soccer player trying to figure out a new sport to one who could take over games helped Murrieta Mesa record its fourth consecutive unbeaten Southwestern League season. Leading the team in scoring, ground balls and draw controls, Tull was chosen unanimously by rival coaches as the Southwestern Offensive Player of the Year and has been chosen the IE Varsity Girls Lacrosse Player of the Year.

Sovacool remembers that playoff game two years ago.

“She was definitely scared,” Sovacool said. “I was looking at her on the sideline and she was trying not to make eye contact.”

That, however, just made watching Tull’s progress over the next two years that much more satisfying.

“Her junior year, she was a great player,” Sovacool said. “Very good, very fast, not as confident. But her junior year to senior year, she blossomed into one of our best athletes to ever come through the program.”

The daughter of two standout athletes at Fallbrook High, Tull had focused on soccer before coming to Murrieta Mesa. Sovacool had Tull as a student, and was friends with both parents. As a group, they sold Tull on the idea of trying a new sport.

“She had never picked up a stick before,” Sovacool said. “But she was instantly an impact player. She’s really fast, really aggressive and super coachable.”

Tull, however, didn’t feel like an impact player.

“It was really scary,” she said. “Just seeing all the girls who were really good, and I didn’t even really know how to catch and throw. But I think I’m a pretty athletic person and I picked it up pretty quickly. And I also just liked the community of the lacrosse program.”

Tull jumped headlong into that community between her sophom*ore and junior years. Her strides and her increasing mastery of the nuances did not go unnoticed.

“I took her up from an attack to a midfielder and she was able to showcase her defensive side with her offensive side,” Sovacool said. “If you look at her draw controls and her caused turnovers and ground balls, she was executing all over the field.

“It was kind of like ‘If You Give a Mouse a Cookie,’ that book, then all of a sudden, they want more, they want more. That’s how it was with Rilie. I need you to lock down their best defender, I need you to score. She was able to do it all.”

Tull boosted her scoring from 17 goals in 21 matches to 65 in 22 matches.

It culminated in the Santa Margarita game, where the Rams started slowly, leading to a desperate plea.

“She (Sovacool) pulled me to the side,” said Tull, “and she just said ‘I need you to do something. Anything. Just do something.”

What Tull did was immediately win a draw, take it to the goal and score. It was the first of five goals in the Rams’ 14-12 victory.

The season ended one match later, in a loss to top-seeded Foothill.

For Tull, the future is uncertain. She would like to remain in Southern California, but college lacrosse is still dominated by schools on the other side of the country.

Whatever direction she takes, Tull will carry the benefits of experience at Mesa.

“It was really rewarding to see all that progress and all that work actually pay off,” she said.

— MATT JOCKS

IE VARSITY COACH OF THE YEAR

Chris Hamill, Temecula Valley

Temecula Valley went a combined 15-30 over the previous three seasons, but the Golden Bears made their breakthrough this year and finished the campaign with a 18-6 record. Temecula Valley finished fourth in the tough Southwestern League, but the Golden Bears finished the regular season above .500 and secured the program first playoff berth. And they took full advantage of that at-large entry, winning the CIF Southern Section Division 3 championship and becoming the first Inland girls lacrosse team to win a section title. Temecula Valley had a dominant postseason run, outscoring its five opponents by a combined score of 67-30.

— ERIC-PAUL JOHNSON

IE VARSITY ALL-AREA TEAM

Abby Brant, Chaparral, Sr.

Julia Canela, Chaparral, Jr.

Aubrey Chang, Temecula Valley, Jr.

Kendall Conrad, Santiago, Sr.

Kami Cornelison, Murrieta Valley, Jr.

Malia Fox, Chaparral, Jr.

Olivia Garate, Murrieta Mesa, So.

Andrea Hartman, Murrieta Mesa, Jr.

Riley Jarrett, Vista Murrieta, Sr.

Autumn Kuhl, Santiago, Jr.

Kelsey Lurkins, Temecula Valley, Sr.

Reagan Oberheu, Murrieta Mesa, Sr.

Aubrey Olson, Murrieta Mesa, Sr.

Maelynn Saucedo, Roosevelt, Jr.

Amanda Schlesener, Vista Murrieta, Sr.

Ryann Sigloch, Riverside Poly, Sr.

Liliana Slagle, King, Jr.

Mikaila Stone, Murrieta Mesa, Sr.

Rilie Tull, Murrieta Mesa, Sr. (Player of the Year)

Olivia Worden, King, Jr.