The Eastlake High School boys lacrosse team welcomes new varsity head coach Dale Drees into the program; the team also welcomes back a large returning class that should help Drees make an impact in the win-loss column in his first season at the helm.
“We have quite a bit of experience — we have a good senior class, we have a good junior class,” Drees said. “We should have a solid team, with experience at every position.”
Early season results appear to bear that out. The Titans (4-1) won their opening three games — 18-12 at El Capitan on March 5, 14-7 at San Dieguito Academy on March 7 and 19-0 over visiting Serra on March 9.
Eastlake dropped a 15-5 non-league decision to visiting Rancho Bernardo on March 13 but bounced back to defeated visiting Patrick Henry, 8-7, on March 17.
The Titans face off Mesa League play April 2 at Bonita Vista.
Top returners include attackman Jaxen Trinidad and midfielders Evan Farrage, Tony Santos and Michael Carino. All are juniors except Farrage, who is a senior.
“It’s hard to single out any particular player,” the new EHS coach said. “We have a lot of returning players this season; they all have a lot of experience.
“We’re excited to start the season,” Drees said.
If Drees’ name sounds familiar, it is because he is the father of former Eastlake standout Dustin Drees, who went on to play four years at Brigham Young University (2008, 2011-13).
Team leaders through five games included Trinidad with 12 goals and 16 assists, Santos with 12 goals, McKinley Egland-Young with nine goals and 11 assists, A.J. Caturay with 14 ground balls, and Brock Hayes, Braden Mayer and Carino with 11 ground balls each.
“We have continued this year in scheduling challenging non-league games,” the elder Drees said. “I have been impressed with the team work displayed in these initial games with more than 60 percent of goals being assisted and 11 different players putting goals on the board.
“Our 18 returning varsity players from last year’s squad saw significant playing time last season in all positions: attack, midfield and defense. We have added skilled players from last year’s junior varsity team who are contributing on both offense and defense and we are seeing excellent play from Chase Trinidad, our only freshman on varsity.
“We expect to see tough games in our remaining non-league schedule which we think will help us as we prepare for league play. The league title always seems to come down to the wire with very challenging play from our league opponents.”
Barons top Spartans, 12-5, in non-league contest
Things are still coalescing in the early part of the season for both the Bonita Vista and Chula Vista high school boys lacrosse teams.
The hope is that by midseason both teams raise their play to a higher level.
The teams met Wednesday in a non-league matchup at BVHS. The host Barons won 12-5.
“We’re real young,” new Bonita Vista head coach Peter Locke explained. “We only have four seniors. We’re freshmen and sophomore heavy. Our freshmen are coming along. They’re contributing. A few are starting. The future looks bright. We hope to hit our stride in league.”
Two of Locke’s sons play on the Barons – senior defender Peter Locke IV and freshman midfielder/defender Justin Locke.
A pair of seniors did most of the damage on the scoresheet against the Spartans as Billy Esparza and Jacob Peters each collected four goals and two assists.
Esparza also collected eight ground balls on defense.
Michael Lopez, another senior, recorded two goals and one assist while sophomore Kevin Tang and freshman Gabriel Mata each scored one goal.
The Barons (2-4) led 5-1 at halftime. The game was more closely contested in the second half as the hosts racked up a 7-4 scoring edge.
Gabriel Mancias led Chula Vista in the scoring column with four goals.
Bonita Vista hosts Eastlake on April 2 to face off Mesa League play. The Barons and Titans shared last year’s league title.
The Spartans (3-5) host Mar Vista in a South Bay League game also on April 2.
Angel Ascencio is coaching his fifth year at Chula Vista High School. He feels his team could be in the running to win this year’s South Bay League title.
“My whole team is filled with seniors,” the CVHS coach said. “We’re trying to bring home a banner. We’re hoping to be the first Chula Vista team to qualify for the (CIF) playoffs. We have a good core of guys.”
Impact players on this year’s team, according to Ascencio, include Mancias and Angel Reyes, both senior attackmen, senior long stick midfielders Marc Bello and Giovanni Cimmino and senior face-off/midfielder Netzer Villagomez.
