The Montgomery High School boys lacrosse team held its annual Senior Night Monday evening with about 100 fans cheering on the team to a 9-3 South Bay League victory against the visiting Chula Vista Spartans. The win was the 17th consecutive for the Aztecs, whose record now towers at a commanding 20-1.
After spending much of their history near the bottom of the Metro Conference standings, Montgomery’s program has experienced a rebirth in the South Bay League and, more specifically, under head coach Michael Vera.
“The seniors who we honored today were freshmen during my first official year of coaching,” explained Vera, whose team improved to 5-0 in league play. “I got to see them enter the program as freshmen; I see them now as outstanding players. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of players.”
The Aztecs have seven seniors on their roster this year – five of whom were honored during an extended halftime ceremony on Monday. Those seven players are out to help the team win its second South Bay League banner in the last three years.
The South Bay League took form in 2013 with four teams – Montgomery, Mar Vista, Southwest and Chula Vista. Mar Vista won the league’s inaugural championship while the Aztecs won the title in 2014. Mar Vista won it again last year.
Montgomery concludes regular season play with a game Thursday at Southwest. A win on Thursday will hand the Aztecs sole possession of this year’s banner.
It certainly has been a banner season at the Otay Mesa school. The team has already set a school record for most wins in one season. The previous high was 10 in 2014.
The Aztecs had finished with just wins in each of the two seasons before Vera took over reins of the program.
In fact, according to statistics listed on the laxpower.com website, Montgomery had failed to post a win during a four-year stretch from 2005 to 2008 when the team finished with a cumulative 0-46 record.
Those days appear long past, however.
“Every year, it’s gotten better and better,” Vera explained. “The most wins we’d ever had before was 10 and we’ve doubled that this year. Winning the banner this year is our goal; we want to go for it.”
Vera attributed the turnaround in the program to recruiting and off-season play.
“My first year, we recruited a large number of kids,” the Montgomery coach explained. “Now they’ve grown (into the game) and they’re starting to contribute. Next year we should be even stronger.”
Airik Ranjo paced the hosts with three goals and two assists in Monday’s win while Jaime Casas scored three times. Jacky Wong scored two goals while Jonnathan Estrada scored once. Goalkeeper Sebastian Salcedo was credited with four saves.
Ranjo entered Monday’s game having scored 63 goals in 18 games while Wang had scored 40 goals in 14 games.
Alex Jaffe, who had collected 30 goals in 17 games, led the team defensively with 112 ground balls; Amos Jaffe was next on the team with 108 ground balls. Alex Jaffe had also won 67 percent of face-offs taken.
Salcedo had accumulated a 2.9 goals-per-game average and 0.6 save percentage.
Montgomery dropped a 9-8 non-league decision to Hilltop on March 14 and has not lost since.
The Aztecs finished 5-0 at the Quetzalcoatl Cup on April 9, defeating established programs such as Olympian, Foothills Christian, Helix and Fallbrook besides a first-year Mater Dei Catholic team.
Montgomery also has posted non-league wins over Gompers Prep, Francis Parker, Del Lago Academy (twice), Preuss School, Mission Bay (twice), Santana and Monte Vista.
The Aztecs faced off league play with a 16-5 win at Mar Vista on April 18 and shut out host Chula Vista, 14-0, on April 21. Montgomery completed the first round of league play with a 9-3 win over visiting Southwest on April 25.
The Aztecs faced off the second round of league play with an 18-1 win over visiting Mar Vista on April 28.
The Spartans provided much stiffer competition the second time around. Montgomery led 3-1 at the end of the first quarter and 5-2 at halftime. Nestor Huerta and Lahir Castro each scored first-half goals for Chula Vista, which cut the score to 8-3 midway through the fourth quarter.
Vera said his team has not focused on its record as the wins have piled up.
“The record is nice,” Vera noted. “This year we’ve taken it one game at a time. After each game, we immediately look to what’s ahead.”
“We keep going — we didn’t let that loss stop us,” Casas said.
The South Bay League champion receives a berth in the upcoming San Diego Section Division II playoffs. The Aztecs entered the week fourth in the division power rankings.
The section playoffs are scheduled to start May 10 for Division I teams and May 11 for Division II teams. Montgomery has made just one appearance in the CIF playoffs in its history and that came during its league championship season in 2014.
“Regardless of whether we win outright or share the banner, I think we’ve earned our spot in the playoffs this year,” Vera noted.
Southwest remained in championship contention after defeating Mar Vista, 9-2, on Monday to improve to 4-1 in league play, 9-7 overall. The Raiders are enjoying perhaps their best season in school history this spring and would like nothing better than to top it off with a league co-championship with the Aztecs.
Update:
Montgomery 11, Southwest 6
Montgomery leaders: Airik Ranjon 4 goals, 2 assists; Jaime Casas 4 goals, 1 assist
Note: Montgomery finishes 6-0 in league play, wins South Bay League championship
By the numbers
Montgomery Aztecs
2005: 0-8
2006: 0-9
2007: 0-15
2008: 0-14
2009: 5-12
2010: 4-13
2011: 2-15
2012: 2-13
2013: 6-12
2014: 10-10
2015: 6-11
2016: 21-1
Source: www.laxpower.com
Eastlake Titans close out perfect Mesa League championship campaign
The host Titans received some nervous moments in the first half with a 9-5 lead on visiting Hilltop but outscored the Lancers 6-2 in the second half en route to claiming a 15-7 victory in the team’s final regular season game on Monday.
With the win, Eastlake finished Mesa League play 8-0 and 12-5 overall. The league title is the fourth consecutive for the east side school.
Freshman Jaxen Trinidad led the Titans with five goals and three assists to put on a showcase performance in the regular season finale. Evan Farrage and Matthew Stuber each had three goals while Michaelangelo Aguirre contributed two goals and one assist. Samuel Reyes had a goal and assist while Cesar Chavoya was credited with one goal.
Ten players were credited with at least one shot and eight finished with at least one goal or one assist.
Asanti Baltazar led the hosts defensively with seven ground balls while goalkeeper Nathan McPeak made seven saves on 14 shots.
Eastlake defeated host Otay Ranch, 8-5, on April 28 to improve to 7-0 in league play and eliminate the Mustangs from championship contention.
Trinidad led the Titans with three goals and two assists while Farrage scored three goals. McPeak notched 15 saves in securing the key victory.
Trinidad has moved into the team scoring lead with 41 points (22 goals, 19 assists) with Farrage in second with 40 points (33 goals, seven assists). Stuber ranks third in team scoring with 36 points (26 goals, 10 assists).
Eastlake takes a three-game winning streak into the upcoming Division I playoffs that face off May 10. The Titans rank fourth overall in the current power rankings.
Metro Conference
Boys Lacrose Standings
Mesa League
Eastlake Titans 8-0, 12-5
Otay Ranch Mustangs 5-2, 10-7
Bonita Vista 3-4, 8-9
Olympian 2-5, 9-11-1
Hilltop 0-7, 9-9
South Bay League
Montgomery 5-0, 20-1
Southwest 4-1, 9-7
Mar Vista 0-4, 1-10
Chula Vista 0-4, 1-10
