Eagles shake off early season cobwebs and multiple penalties to win a tight game over Palos Verdes, #6 in the CIF Southern Section
It was a complete team effort as the Men’s Varsity Lacrosse Team took to the field last Saturday for their season-opener against the visiting Palos Verdes Sea Kings (2-2). In a tight game with multiple lead changes, it took until the waning seconds of the 4th quarter for the Eagles to hold on for a 15-14 win!
Senior Captain, LSM Brett Koopman got the scoring started for the Eagles with a laser into the top right corner, a fitting moment as he makes his return to the team after missing all of the 2022 season recovering from a torn ACL, #GodIsGood. Brett finished the game with 5 goals, 14 ground balls, 2 caused turnovers, and was a spark plug all over the field, disrupting and creating chaos wherever he went!
Freshman Attack, Colby Rossettie had a monster performance in his first high school game. Working primarily from X, he fed the ball with ease creating opportunities all over the offensive side of the field. He quickly found his own shooting groove and finished the game with 4 goals and 1 assist.
Sophomore Attack, Parker Guiltinan picked up where he left off last season, positioning himself right on the crease, and ended the game with 3 goals including an amazing scooped up rebound ball for a behind-the-back goal plus 1 assist, and 6 ground balls.
Other key contributors for the Eagles include Sophomore Midfielder Magnus Falkiewicz who was an assist machine the entire game and he handled most of the clears for the team. New addition, Sophomore FOGO Lucas Sit, handled the majority of the face-offs winning 17 of 25 that he took with strong support from the wings to secure the ground balls. Also contributing to the team’s overall success, Seniors Matthew Briggs, Rex Maloni, and Junior Trevion Adcox each netted 1 goal with Briggs and Sophomore Matt McKewon adding 1 assist each.
The Eagles’ defense flexed their muscle early as the team committed 12 total penalties that resulted in 8 minutes of man-down defense, including three two-man-down situations. Of the 9 man-up opportunities Palos Verdes had, they converted on just 5. Sophomore Defender Ben Wakeham led the defense with 5 ground balls and 2 caused turnovers along with numerous other play-disrupting efforts.
Sophomore Goalies, George Adams, and Finlay Lenihan split time in goal between the halves, and both played well in their first Varsity game. Taking the field in the first half, George Adams stepped in between the pipes for his overdue first high school game after missing all of 2022 recovering from a torn ACL. George stopped 5 of 12 shots on goal and successfully cleared the ball 6 times. Taking over in the second half, Finley stopped 4 of 11 shots on goal and had 3 successful clears.
At various points during the game, Coach Rodriguez was able to move deeper into the roster giving many others the opportunity to get into the game and gain experience at the Varsity level.
Congrats to the entire team on a great start to the season! The Eagles take the field at home on Tuesday, Mar. 7 at 4 pm vs. Carlsbad (1-1) – come out and cheer on the team!