During the latter half of the San Diego Section’s compacted 2020-21 season, there were points were almost all sports were playing at the same time. This resulted in some unusual challenges as teams fought for precious field space for not only games but practices.
“Field space has always been problematic at Eastlake,” Titan boys lacrosse coach Dale Drees said. “However, this year with all sports playing at the same time, it was even more so and very challenging to try to schedule practices and games.
“Also, students who might have opted to play lacrosse in a normal springtime season were playing other sports that competed for their time. Overall, the number of athletes that we typically see coming out for lacrosse was down by 40 percent.
“Like many other programs in the county, JV boys lacrosse teams suffered due to lack of field availability and lack of numbers. Eastlake was no exception and was unable to field a JV boys lacrosse team this year.”
Somehow, the Titans were able to put together a special season with a team that only seemed to get better as the season wore on. Eastlake captured its 12th league championship in school history this spring (eighth consecutive) and went on to advance all the way to the Division II semifinals in the ensuing San Diego Section playoffs.
The fourth-seeded Titans finished 7-0 in Mesa League play, 12-5 overall, following their season-ending 6-5 loss to the top-seeded Mt. Carmel Sundevils.
“Even with the challenges, I was very pleased with the season and was impressed with the progress the boys were able to make by the end of the season,” Drees said. “With virtually no boys lacrosse season in 2020, and no opportunity for club off-season conditioning or workouts before the beginning of the season, coaches knew depth chart experience was going to be an issue.
“We only had two varsity players returning from the 2019 championship team and six other varsity players with only four games of experience in 2020 due to the cancelled season. The rest of the players we carried on the varsity squad had either played just three JV games in 2020 or were brand new to the program.”
Drees credits the team’s success in this unusual season to two primary factors: assistant coaches and leadership by the small core of returning players.
“Because there was no JV team this season, Eastlake had the benefit of having more assistant coaches (including four Eastlake lacrosse alumni) to focus on the varsity team,” Drees said. “Consequently, more position specific coaching was possible during practices and games. The small core of returning players were committed to helping the newer players assimilate into the varsity scheme and were willing to play wherever they were needed on the field.
“Our defense was the foundation this season. With a younger, less experienced offense that needed time to learn to play together, the defense stepped up to keep us in games where we could have otherwise struggled. The defense, anchored by seniors Renick Martin, Luke Bigalk and Broderick Sainz, worked intently to take away opponent’s quality shots, thus giving Donovan Perry time to get more comfortable in goal and make easier saves.
“Donovan, who by any measure had an outstanding year in goal, ended the season as a first team all-league selection, yet he only had three JV games of experience as a starter before taking over full-time duties as our varsity goalie this year.
“Offensively, we were led by player of the year senior attackman Chase Trinidad. He was definitely the catalyst on offense, with major contributions by Sam Archer, Nate Trinidad and Zach Shields. As the offense played together more and more, we saw the assists increase as well. On the season half of our goals were assisted, which demonstrates the team-oriented play which helped our overall outcome.”
Drees said the team’s schedule also played into the team’s ultimate success this season.
“When it comes to scheduling, our philosophy is that we want to try to schedule the top teams in our division and quality division one opponents,” the EHS coach said. “While that could possibly mean more losses, I think it better prepares us so that we can gain experience playing at a level that is required in the playoffs and to prepare for league play. It also gives us an opportunity to get a glimpse of an opponent that we could potentially see in the playoffs.”
The Titans started the 2021 spring season 0-3 following non-league losses to Canyon Crest Academy (9-6), El Camino (6-5) and Patrick Henry (10-0).
Canyon Crest received the No. 12 seed in the Division I playoffs while El Camino received the No. 3 seed in the Division II postseason field.
Second-seeded Patrick Henry (14-3) defeated Mt. Carmel, 6-4, to win the Division II championship.
The Titans, after not having any preseason workouts, steadily improved as players had the time to work together as offensive and defensive units as the season progressed.
“I think team chemistry played a major role,” Drees explained. “About two-thirds of the way through the regular season we made some personnel/position adjustments that really helped. Jordan Ladrido moved exclusively to defense, which further strengthened that unit with another solid defensive midfielder and Nate Trinidad transitioned from attack to midfield, which really opened up our offense and forced opposing defenses to be more conscientious about where to play their long-stick midfielder. Plus, it gave us another scoring threat from the top along with Zach Shields.
“Everyone else stepped in to fill in the gaps. I also think with each game their confidence grew, recognizing that they really did have a shot at the playoffs despite their lack of experience. And both the offense and the defense were really clicking in the latter part of the season.”
Eastlake defeated 13th-seeded Mission Hills, 16-4, in the opening round of the playoffs before dealing fifth-seeded San Dieguito Academy a 5-3 loss in the quarterfinals.
“I think our defensive coaches did an outstanding job breaking down game film and preparing the defense for what they would see out of each opponent,” Drees said. “That was particularly evident in the playoffs.
“The offensive assistant coaches continued to hone and refine our offensive execution down the stretch. And finally, the boys’ drive through league play and into the playoffs was tenacious. The energy during each game was infectious. While we ended up losing by one goal in the semifinals against Mt Carmel — a team we lost to in the regular season 8-1 — our kids played an outstanding game. It was an amazing game to cap this very unique season.”
Next level
Three teams from the Metro Conference – Eastlake, Bonita Vista and Mater Dei Catholic – qualified for this year’s section playoffs.
Eastlake received the No. 4 seed in the Division II field and advanced as far as the division semifinals, finishing 1-2 in postseason play.
Bonita Vista received the No. 9 seed in the Division II field and ended its season with a 13-9 loss at No. 8 Foothills Christian in the opening round to finish 10-5 overall.
Mater Dei Catholic was awarded a play-in game to the Division II tournament but lost, 15-9, to Del Lago Academy to end its season 7-7 overall.
This year’s Mesa League lineup featured two teams from the South Bay League — Mater Dei Catholic and Olympian — and one less team from the Mesa League (Otay Ranch). Because of the late lineup shuffling, teams played an unbalanced league schedule.
Eastlake finished league play undefeated, followed by Bonita Vista with a 7-2 league record, Mater Dei Catholic with a 4-3 league record, Hilltop with a 2-5 league record and Olympian with a 0-10 league record.
CIF champions included Torrey Pines (Open Division), Bishop’s (Division I) and Patrick Henry (Division II).
Mesa League All-League Boys Lacrosse Teams
First Team
Chase Trinidad (Eastlake) 12=
Renick Martin (Eastlake) 12
Luke Bigalk (Eastlake) 12
Donovan Perry (Eastlake) 11
Diego Posada (Mater Dei Catholic) 12
Soren Savaard (Mater Dei Catholic) 12
Anthony Antunez (Bonita Vista) 12
Leonardo Zepeda (Bonita Vista) 11
Justin Locke (Bonita Vista) 12
Andrew Leibold (Olympian) 11
Noah Meza (Hilltop) 12
Second Team
Samuel Archer (Eastlake) 12
Zachariah Shields (Eastlake) 12
Broderick Sainz (Eastlake) 12
Mason Spounias (Mater Dei Catholic) 12
David Shadowski (Mater Dei Catholic) 12
Gabriel Mata (Bonita Vista) 12
Caden Ada-Tannehill (Bonita Vista) 9
Dante Herrero (Bonita Vista) 10
Miguel Morgan (Bonita Vista) 12
Pedro Grimaldo (Hilltop) 12
Ethan Mallon (Olympian) 9
