The celebration was a long time coming for Marin Catholic, and the Wildcats savored every moment of their hard-fought girls lacrosse championship Saturday.

The third-seeded Wildcats claimed the MCAL crown for the first time since 2014 with a 9-6 victory over archrival Redwood High. Senior Elsa Greene and sophomore Brooke Spagnuolo each scored three goals as Marin Catholic (17-4, 9-2 MCAL) beat the Giants for the first time in two years.

“The last four MCAL championships I’ve been involved in have been against Redwood, so it’s great to be part of the rivalry,” said Spagnuolo, whose basketball team lost to Redwood in the league championship before going on to win the CIF State Division III championship seven weeks ago. With Saturday’s win, Spagnuolo is now 2-2 against Redwood in title games.

Saturday’s contest was a rematch of last year’s MCAL championship when Redwood beat Marin Catholic, 13-12, in overtime. Redwood beat Marin Catholic again a few days later in the North Coast Section semifinals.

“Elsa and our other seniors have been talking about how we lost to Redwood in overtime last year, and we wanted to make a difference this year,” said Wildcats goalie Gianna Rinaldi, who had nine saves Saturday.

The Wildcats were riding a five-game streak entering Saturday’s contest. Their last loss? That came April 15 against Redwood, 8-5.

“We had lost to Tam and Redwood in the regular season, so we wanted to get some goals fast against them,” said Greene, who has committed to play at Colorado College next season.

The Wildcats avenged their only two league losses by topping Thursday’s semifinal win against Tam with Saturday’s stunning championship win over the MCAL’s top seed.

“We had something to prove. We wanted to win on our home field, and being an underdog was more motivation,” Wildcats attacker Marlee Nies added.

Lucia Hobson netted a pair of Marin Catholic goals and Nies tallied a goal and three assists. Lily Pirsch, a former standout for Redwood before transferring to Marin Catholic, registered an assist for the Wildcats.

Claire Johnson and Riley Buck each scored twice and Nina Baker added a late goal for Redwood (15-4, 9-1), while Lucy Jeffers had a goal and seven draw controls.

“I have the utmost confidence and belief in these kids, and I’d rather have a bad day with them than a good day with anybody else,” Redwood head coach Lauren Yee said. “Things just didn’t go our way. The ball didn’t bounce in our direction. In a championship game, the stakes are higher and everybody comes to play.”

Yee added, “The reality is we have to find our flow and we’ve got to be confident and decisive in the moves we make. Once that starts to click, we’ll be a hard team to beat. The future is bright. These next few weeks in NCS, it’s anybody’s game.”

Buck kept the Giants even, matching goals from Hobson and Greene in the first quarter, before Johnson gave Redwood its first lead, 3-2.

“There was a lot of emotional pressure coming into this game because Marin Catholic is one of our biggest rivals,” Johnson said. “Every time we play them, even in league, there’s always high emotions, high pressure on the field.”

Spagnuolo scored all three of her goals in the second quarter to pull the Wildcats even with the Giants before halftime.

“It boosts your confidence when you hit that one shot, and then the second shot,” Spagnuolo said. “Especially with all of your teammates cheering from the sideline, all that energy comes together and it really makes everything amazing.”

Spagnuolo, with her long arms, launched a 12-meter shot into the net to tie the game at 3-3, before Johnson restored Redwood’s lead on a penalty shot. Spagnuolo tied the score again as she took a short pass from Nies in front of the net and slammed it home.

Jeffers dominated the faceoff circle early on, but was under intense pressure from a physical Marin Catholic squad and even took a couple of incidental shots to the head.

Jeffers, who went to the sidelines bloodied from incidental contact on a draw, re-entered the game with a determined mindset, looking for a measure of revenge. She got it right away as she drove the ball through traffic and into the net. But an 8-meter goal from Spagnuolo two minutes later tied the score, 5-5, heading into the break.

“Every quarter, every talk we had, we came out with more energy, more positivity,” Spagnuolo said. “I think all the teamwork really came together.”

The Wildcats were playing with a strong wind at their backs in the third quarter as Nies snapped a shot into the net to put the Wildcats ahead for good two minutes into the second half. Hobson added another goal in the third quarter to push Marin Catholic’s lead to two goals. Greene then rang home a pair of quick goals in the fourth for a 9-5 Wildcats lead.

“We’ve been tied at halftime before, and we know the fourth quarter is make-it-or-break-it time,” Greene said. “Understanding that we still had 24 minutes left in the game, we had to make the most out of those 24 minutes.”