The Eastlake High School boys lacrosse team sewed up this year’s Mesa League championship – the Titans’ third consecutive league title – by defeating the visiting Otay Ranch Mustangs, 17-2, on Monday. In the process, the reigning Mesa League champions handed head coach Nestor Rosas his 100th career coaching victory.
Rosas has served as head coach of the team for the past seven years after serving three previous years as an assistant coach.
“It was fun to see everyone around me getting so excited about No. 100,” acknowledged Rosas, whose team improved to 7-0 in league play, 12-4 on the season. “The school staff kept asking my wife what number we were up to and my kids were keeping track. To me it was just another game and I wondered if I would remember when, where and who it was against. Yes, I will remember, probably forever.”
Rosas said the school had sent out a letter informing the staff about the upcoming milestone.
“The principal, athletic director, assistant principal and several teachers were all in attendance,” Rosas explained. “What I didn’t know was my kids had a Facebook invite out to Eastlake lacrosse alumni. Lots of old players came in and were sitting in the bleachers behind a giant ‘Congrats 100 Wins’ banner.”
Rosas said he had ordered the water cooler dumped out at the end of the third quarter so no cooler water would be available for players to dump on him. However, the alumni already had it planned out with their own water supply.
“As we were setting up the team to take a picture in front of banner two alumni grabbed me and held me for my son Ryan to dump a cooler of water on me,” the EHS coach related. “Lots of teams have tried, but this time they got me.”
Jordan Vicente led Eastlake with four goals in the game while Chase Morris and Alex Spanjer each scored three goals. Kaleb Cordova scored two goals while Paris Delgado, Michaelangelo Aguirre, Michael Kohler, Ethan Nacif and Gabriel Evangelista each scored one goal to round out the Titan scoring parade.
The hosts scooped up 50 ground balls. Ronnie Sallee and Cordova led the team with six ground balls each.
Vicente leads Eastlake in team scoring with 47 goals and 16 assists for 63 points. Morris follows with 27 goals and 11 assists for 38 points and Aguirre with 21 goals and eight assists for 39 points.
Christian Haffner leads the team with 136 ground balls – more than double the 55 ground balls recorded by Vicente.
Goalie Nathan McPeak has recorded a 4.8 goals-per-game average with 91 saves on 150 shots.
The league title automatically places the Titans in this year’s San Diego Section Division I playoffs, with seeding to be conducted on Saturday. The playoffs face off Tuesday, May 19, for Division I teams, Wednesday, May 20, for Division II teams and Saturday, May 23, for Open Division teams.
Eight-and-Oh
The Eastlake boys lacrosse team handed head coach Nestor Rosas career win No. 101 after defeating host Hilltop, 18-1, on Wednesday to close out regular season play. The Titans finished the season 13-4 overall, 8-0 in Mesa League play.
Chase Morris led all scorers on the field with three goals and four assists while Jordan Vicente (one goal, three assists) and Evan Farrage (two goals, two assists) each contributed four points. Ten Titans picked up either a goal of assist in the game. Michaelangelo Aguirre notched three goals while Asanti Baltazar, Ethan Nacif and Paris Delgado each scored two goals. Alex Spanjer, Christian Haffner and Kaleb Cordova each collected a goal and assist.
Eastlake led 10-1 at halftime. Kinton Borja scored the lone goal for Hilltop, which dropped to 1-7 in league play, 7-14 overall.
Metro Conference Boys Lacrosse Standings
Mesa League
Eastlake Titans 8-0, 13-4
Olympian Eagles 5-3, 10-9
Bonita Vista Barons 4-4, 9-9
Otay Ranch Mustangs 2-6, 3-18
Hilltop Lancers 1-7, 7-14
Wednesday, April 29
Bonita Vista 12, Hilltop 3
Olympian 12, Otay Ranch 7
Saturday, May 2
Mt. Carmel 21, Olympian 2
Monday, May 4
Olympian 9, Hilltop 4
Eastlake 18, Bonita Vista 1
Wednesday, May 6
Otay Ranch 12, Hilltop 2
Eastlake 14, Olympian 1
Saturday, May 9
Bonita Vista 3, Point Loma 2 (OT)
Monday, May 11
Eastlake 17, Otay Ranch 2
Tuesday, May 12
Olympian 11, Valhalla 8
Wednesday, May 13
Eastlake 18, Hilltop 1
Bonita Vista 9, Otay Ranch 3
Del Norte 14, Olympian 2
South Bay League
Mar Vista Mariners 6-0, 12-8
Montgomery Aztecs 4-2, 6-10
Chula Vista 1-4, 4-12
Southwest 0-5, 2-14-1
Wednesday, May 6
Mar Vista 5, Chula Vista 3
Montgomery 13, Southwest 1
Monday, May 11
Mar Vista 9, Montgomery 6
Southwest at Chula Vista, no report
Wednesday, May 13
Mar Vista 12, Southwest 1
Montgomery 10, Chula Vista 3
