The Eastlake High School varsity boys lacrosse team defeated host Bonita Vista, 14-2, on Wednesday to officially wrap up this year’s Mesa League championship, the program’s seventh consecutive and the 11th league title in the history of the program.
The Titans keep coming back no matter how much the talent drain may be each year with an infusion of promising young talent ready to fill in the gaps — and take the challenge of upholding tradition.
“It certainly says a lot about support from the school’s administration and support from the parents — both are fundamental to our success,” EHS head coach Dale Drees said after Wednesday’s title-clinching victory pushed the team’s record to 6-0 in league play, 11-6 overall.
“We have dedicated players who come into the program with experience (at the youth club level) and we have players who are new to the sport who work hard to gain experience and grow within the program through our junior varsity team.
“A big part of our success is due to our junior varsity program. Hopefully we can continue that.”
The Titans remain on everyone’s radar.
Host Bonita Vista, which was celebrating Senior Day in its final regular season game, came out fast in taking a 2-0 lead on goals by Timmy Tucker.
But the visitors, who were missing several top attackmen for the contest, quickly regained their composure — and the lead. Eastlake tied the game, 2-2, by the end of the opening quarter and led 7-2 at halftime.
The Titans netted 14 unanswered goals in recording the victory.
Tony Santos and Michael Carino both scored four goals to lead Eastlake offensively while McKinley Egland-Young and Carino both contributed three assists. Carino also led the Titans defensively with eight ground balls while Aidan Donaghe had five ground balls.
Goalkeeper Kai Bowden was credited with nine saves.
The San Diego Section playoffs face off May 7 for Division I teams and May 8 for Division II teams. Playoff seeds in the Open Division, Division I and Division II brackets will be announced on the section’s website (www.cifsds.org) on Saturday.
Eastlake is currently ranked second among Division II teams behind top-ranked Granite Hills (10-4). Francis Parker (10-3) is ranked third, followed by No. 4 Fallbrook (14-3).
Eastlake advanced to last year’s Division II championship game, finishing runner-up to Canyon Crest Academy by a 9-4 score.
Drees said his team has a goal of returning to the division final this year.
“Our goal is always to win league but this year our goal is also to come away with a division title,” Drees said. “In putting together our non-league schedule this season we attempted to schedule the highest ranked Division II teams from last year as well as excellent teams from Division I so that we would be prepared for both league play and playoffs.”
The Titans have to enter the playoffs with a lot of confidence after recording an 8-7 non-league win at Granite Hills on April 19.
“It’s huge just being able to play them and to come away with a win shows that we can play with anyone,” Drees said.
“I do think we are well positioned going into the Division II playoffs. I like our chances for a deep playoff run again this year but it won’t be easy. Our unselfish play on offense and aggressive play on defense have been the keys to our success so far this season and I expect we will ride that strategy into the playoffs. I guess we’ll find out how well our strategy worked after May 18 (the date of the CIF championship game).”
Team Titan
Eastlake’s varsity team returns 14 players from last year’s league championship team and each brought significant playing time into the season, according to Drees. The team is also bolstered by athletes who have proven themselves at the JV level in recent years, he added.
“It is extremely difficult to highlight the play of any one player because the contributions that each makes to the team are significant,” the EHS coach said. “I think our talent at the attack position is the best that Eastlake has ever seen.
“The combined efforts of seniors McKinley Egland-Young, Jackson Schneider, Jaxen Trinidad and junior Braden Mayer pose matchup challenges for opposing defenses.”
Drees noted that when Trinidad — the 2018 Mesa League Player of the Year— went down due to injury that the team didn’t seem to lose a step.
“Our midfield has been impacted by injury this season but we have still seen very solid play from seniors Tony Santos, Jameson Masias, Michael Carino and sophomore Chase Trinidad offensively and senior Zachary Ertzner and junior Manuia Ahfook defensively,” Drees noted.
“The close defense has been more aggressive this year, led by senior Nic Bigalk with seniors Carson Webster and Errol Fitzpatrick. Also at close defense, Luke Bigalk (sophomore) has been a nice addition from JV the last year. We are fortunate again this year to have Kai Bowden in goal who can always keep us in a game.”
Bonita Vista finished the season 3-3 in league play, 7-12 overall. Hilltop also finished 3-3 in league play while Otay Ranch (0-14 overall) finished 0-6.
Playoff championship games are scheduled at Del Norte High School.
San Diego Section
Boys Lacrosse Rankings
LaxNumbers.com
Division I: 1. Torrey Pines (16-2), 2. La Costa Canyon (12-5), 3. La Jolla (15-0), 4. Coronado (10-6), 5. Santa Fe Christian (13-1), 6. San Marcos (9-7), 7. Cathedral Catholic (9-7), 8. Poway (9-10), 9. St. Augustine (10-4), 10. Grossmont (15-0), 11. Westview (7-8), 12. La Jolla Country Day (9-6), 13. Carlsbad (5-9), 14. Valley Center (10-4), 15. Rancho Bernardo (7-9), 16. Bishop’s 3-12.
Division II: 1. Granite Hills (10-4), 2. Eastake (11-6). 3. Francis Parker (10-3), 4. Fallbrook (14-3), 5. Pacific Ridge (6-10), 6. Helix (13-5), 7. San Dieguito Academy (10-6), 8. Point Loma (10-6), 9. Mt. Carmel (7-10), 10. Valhalla (9-5), 11. Mission Hills (5-9), 12. Santana (9-9), 13. Hilltop (10-8), 14. Del Lago Academy (9-7), 15. El Camino (4-12), 16. El Capitan (5-12).
Olympian Eagles down Mater Dei Catholic, 14-6, claim program’s second South Bay League title
The Olympian Eagles have won the South Bay League championship both times in which the team has competed in the Metro Conference’s junior league. The Eagles claimed their second South Bay League championship after defeating host Mater Dei Catholic, 14-6, on Wednesday to complete league play 6-0.
As league champions, Olympian earns an automatic berth in the upcoming San Diego Section playoffs.
“The team is very excited to have won our second South Bay League championship and to go undefeated in league play once again as we did in 2017,” Eagles head coach Keith Quigley said. “I’m thrilled for the boys because they’ve been working hard and deserve this. We’re looking forward to the playoffs and finding out who we’ll be up against. With this group of seniors, we hope to put together a solid effort in the upcoming playoffs.”
Junior Renz Miranda was Olympian’s high point scorer in Wednesday’s game with two goals and three assists while senior Brandon Lara led the Eagles with four goals. Senior Michael Nafarrete contributed two goals and one assist while freshman Tyler Duke scored two goals.
Freshman goalkeeper Andrew Leibold led the defensive effort with 15 saves while senior Alijah Gonzales successfully fielded eight ground balls. Miranda won eight of 10 face-offs.
Olympian improved to 13-7 in advance of the CIF playoffs.
Mar Vista (7-10 overall) finished runner-up in the South Bay League standings with a 4-2 record, followed by Mater Dei Catholic (2-7 overall) at 1-4 and Chula Vista (0-13 overall) at 0-5.
GIRLS LACROSSE:
Castle Park scores record-breaking season with second place league finish
Castle Park defeated host San Ysidro, 14-0, on Wednesday to secure a record-breaking season for the program. The Trojans improve to 9-8 overall, including a 7-2 record in league play to occupy sole possession of second place in the standings behind league champion Mar Vista.
Eight players picked up at least a goal or assist in Wednesday’s game. Celeste Preciado led the Trojans with five goals while Lizbeth Ribio and Allison Velasco both scored two goals.
Goalkeepers Citalli Fernandez and Kim Zuniga combined to make eight saves to record the shutout win.
San Ysidro fell 0-9 in league play.
“This season for the Castle Park girls lacrosse team has been a true memorable time, as we turned a program that went 0-17 four years ago to compete for a league title this season,” CPHS head coach Chris Kryjewski elaborated.
“We created several goals this season as a team and we accomplished most of them, which has shown the true heart and the hard work the team has put in this season. I’m so proud of what they accomplished and showing they can compete with anyone.
“Goals that we had accomplished this season are as follows: became a family (culture the girls lacrosse team values), scored over 100 goals on the year, won more games than the previous years, won more league games than the previous years, winning record in league, winning record on the overall season, gave up less than 199 goals on the year, brought back home the rivalry Battle of the Greek Goddesses trophy.
“The players and the coaches truly put in a lot of time this season for us to really turn the program around.
“This program will be even better next season and going forward as we will be grinding to get better once off season training starts after summer break. We are looking at one goal that we had an opportunity to compete for. Keep a watch out for the Castle Park girls lacrosse team in 2020.”
Mar Vista (9-0 in league play, 12-6 overall) won this year’s South Bay League championship by defeating Castle Park twice. The Mariners defeated the Trojans by scores of 11-4 on April 10 and 12-8 on April 29.
Chula Vista (6-3 in league play, 5-12 overall) concludes regular season play with a game at Castle Park on Friday, May 3, at 6 p.m.
Southwest is 3-6 in league play, while Montgomery is 2-7 in league play.
Playoff pairings will be determined on May 6. First-round games are scheduled May 10 (Division I) and May 11 (Division II).
Finals are May 18 at San Dieguito High School.
Mesa League
Eastlake defeated host Hilltop, 9-6, on Monday to improve to 6-0 in Mesa League play, 9-5 overall, Goalkeeper Sofia Howe earned the player of the game award for the victorious Titans after making eight saves.
Eastlake defeated visiting Bonita Vita, 15-9, on Wednesday to improve to 7-0 in league play and officially secure this year’s league championship.
Yuleni Zendejas led the Titans with five goals in Wednesday’s game while Cori Montero had three goals. Kameron Lujan and Kika Funk both scored two goals.
Howe made six saves to record the goalkeeper victory.
Bonita Vista fell to 3-3 in league play, 11-8 overall.
Eastlake led 9-4 at halftime and outscored Bonita Vista 6-5 in the second half.
