Though the Castle Park High School girls lacrosse team narrowly missed out on being included in this year’s San Diego Section divisional playoffs, the ladies from Troy did manage to set a milestone in the school’s still developing program by collecting the 2021 South Bay League championship.
The league championship is the first in school history after last year’s runner-up finish to Mar Vista High School.
It had to be a feel-good ending to what has transpired both locally and globally over the past 16 months because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The league title was the first for CPHS head coach Chris Kryjewski since taking over the team in 2016. He attributed the team’s success in 2021 to a large number of players who had competed at the varsity level for three years.
He said he was pleased to see the growth of the new players who joined the program this year.
On a more personal level, senior midfielder Berenice Villalobos became the career goal scoring leader with 81 goals while senior goalkeeper Citlalli Fernandez became the career saves leader in program history with 227 saves.
Kryjewski was selected as the Metro Conference Coach of the Year for the second time. The first time was in 2019.
Additionally, Fernandez was selected as the goalkeeper of the year once again. Her first time was in 2019.
Back to the field
When athletic competition resumed within the boundaries of the Sweetwater Union High School District-sponsored Metro Conference this spring, not all programs were ready to participate.
The Metro Conference fielded 11 teams in girls lacrosse for the 2019 season, the last completed season prior to the declaration of the pandemic. The 2021 lineup featured seven teams.
Only three programs from the South Bay League — Castle Park, San Ysidro and Mater Dei Catholic — were able to field teams this year. Since the San Diego Section requires a minimum of four teams to constitute a league, the three active South Bay League teams were merged with the four remaining Mesa League teams to compete as one conference for league play.
However, a provision was made to award the highest-placing South Bay League team in the combined conference standings with the South Bay League championship for 2021.
Castle Park (7-9 overall) finished third overall in the conference standings with a 6-2 league record to claim the school’s history-making South Bay League championship. The three South Bay League teams played each other twice in the conference schedule but only once against each Mesa League team.
Eastlake (12-3 overall) won the regular season conference championship with a 9-0 league record en route to receiving the No. 8 seed in the Division I playoffs.
Olympian (8-4 overall) finished in second place in the conference standings with a 7-2 league record. The Eagle ladies received the No. 14 seed in the Division II playoffs.
Bonita Vista finished in fourth place in the conference standings, followed by Hilltop (2-7 in league play), Mater Dei Catholic and San Ysidro.
Otay Ranch did not field a team this year.
Eastlake and Olympian were the only two Metro Conference teams admitted to this year’s three divisional playoff field.
All-league
Castle Park had two players named to the Metro Conference all-league first team and two players named to the all-league second team.
First team selections included Villalobos and fellow senior Monique Serrano while second team selections included seniors Sharlin Hernandez and Anissa Diaz.
Villalobos led the team in scoring with 46 goals in 14 games, followed by senior Milagros Aguilar with 36 goals in 12 games.
Diaz ranked third in team scoring with 20 goals and five assists, followed by Hernandez with 19 goals and one assist.
Serrano was named to the all-conference team as a defender.
CIF playoffs
Eastlake defeated ninth-seeded Pacific Ridge, 15-3, in the opening round of the Division I playoffs before ending its season with a 21-3 setback to top-seeded San Marcos in the quarterfinal round.
San Marcos would go on to win the division championship with a 12-10 victory against second-seeded Granite Hills June 5 at San Dieguito Academy.
Olympian ended its season with a 13-4 loss at third-seeded San Dieguito Academy on May 26.
Top-seeded La Jolla Country Day defeated sixth-seeded Carlsbad, 16-5, to win the Division II title. Top-seeded Scripps Ranch (17-0) won this year’s Open Division championship with a 10-4 victory over second-seeded La Jolla.
Senior send-off: Castle Park High School girls lacrosse team
(0) Citlalli Fernandez-Mora
- AVID student — four years
- AP/IB student
- Lacrosse — four years
- Water polo three years
- Two-time Metro Conference girls lacrosse Goalkeeper of the Year (2019, 2021)
- Career saves leader in Castle Park girls lacrosse history (227 saves)
- CSF graduate
- College plans: UC San Diego
(2) Berenice Villalobos
- AP student
- Soccer — three years
- Lacrosse — four years
- Field hockey — four years
- Softball — one year
- 2021 varsity tri-athlete player (field hockey, lacrosse and softball)
- Single game career scoring leader in CPHS girls lacrosse history (seven goals)
- Career-single season Goal scoring leader in CPHS girls lacrosse history (42 goals)
- Career goal scoring leader in CPHS girls lacrosse history (81 goals)
- Team captain (girls lacrosse) in 2021
- College plans: Southwestern College
(5) Anissa Diaz
- Grade-point average: 4.0
- Field hockey— four years
- Lacrosse— four years (team captain in 2021)
- CSF graduate
- College plans: Southwestern College
(10) Alana Sparks
- Class president for 2021 graduating class
- ASB — three years
- Lacrosse — four years
- Volleyball — three years
- CSF graduate
- College plans: UC Santa Cruz
(4) Sharlin Hernandez
- Lacrosse — four years (team captain in 2021)
- Field hockey — four years
- Softball — one year
- Soccer — one year
- 2021 tri-sport athlete (field hockey, lacrosse, softball)
- College plans: Southwestern College
(15) Jenna De La Paz
- IB student — four years
- AVID student — four years
- Soccer — three years
- Field hockey — one year
- Lacrosse — four years
- College plans: San Diego State University
(21) Nani Roche
- Lacrosse — four years
- Field hockey — two years
- Basketball — three years
- Varsity tri-sport athlete (field hockey, basketball, lacrosse)
- Single-season career goal scoring leader in CPHS girls lacrosse history (42 goals)
(22) Karla Romero
- Lacrosse — three years (varsity starter two years)
- Basketball manager — two years
- College plans: Southwestern College
(24) Milagros Aguilar
- Lacrosse — four years (varsity starter for two years)
- Wrestling — four years
(26) Monique Serrano
- Lacrosse — three years
- IB student
- CSF graduate
- College plans: UC Santa Cruz
Metro Conference Girls Lacrosse All-League Teams
First Team
Anissah Perez (Eastlake) 12
Annette Corona (Eastlake) 12
Isabelle Lumahan (Eastlake) 12
Grace Beatty (Olympian) 10
Aliyah Cohen (Olympian) 12
Berenice Villalobos (Castle Park) 12
Monique Serrano (Castle Park) 12
Tatiana Eustaquio (Bonita Vista) 12
Waverly Lester (Bonita Vista) 12
Vienna Waters (Hilltop) 11
Jada Vaughn (San Ysidro) 12
Skylar Pay (Mater Dei Catholic) 11
Second Team
Keila Anderson (Eastlake) 12
Emma Plasencia (Eastlake) 11
Judith Martinez (Olympian) 12
Isabella Manahbanah (Olympian) 11
Sharlin Hernandez (Castle Park) 12
Anissa Diaz (Castle Park) 12
Katherine Ochoa (Bonita Vista) 12
Emma Kerr (Bonita Vista) 11
Marissa Gamboa (Hilltop) 11
Alexis Torres (Hilltop) 11
Gabrielle Cruz (San Ysidro) 12
Janesa Orta (Mater Dei Catholic) 10
Championship Team
Eastlake High School
LEAGUE STANDINGS
Team League/Overall
Eastlake 9-0, 12-3
Olympian 7-2, 8-4
Castle Park 5-2, 7-9
Bonita Vista 5-5, 5-9
Hilltop 2-7, 2-10
Mater Dei Catholic 1-7, 2-10
San Ysidro 0-7, 0-7
SAN DIEGO SECTION PLAYOFFS
Division I
(8) Eastlake 15, (9)Pacific Ridge 3
(1) San Marcos 21, (8) Eastlake 3
Division II
(3) San Dieguito Academy 13, (14) Olympian 4
