April 5, 2006
While lacrosse traditionalists may still view California as a developing region for the game, a glance at the sheer number of teams now playing the sport within the state's borders indicates that the game has arrived. From North to South and in many areas in between, the game is commanding more and more attention, with over 150 boys' teams and 75 girls' teams.
And, as one look at the upcoming intersectional schedule will tell you, the growth has not gone unnoticed from outside. New York's Garden City ventures west later this month for three games against San Diego's Poway, Torrey Pines and Coronado. Fellow Long Island teams Floral Park and South Side will visit Bay Area power Saint Ignatius Prep and Menlo School. And Maryland's Archbishop Spalding, Georgetown Prep and Boys' Latin all host games against defending California San Diego section champion La Costa Canyon next week.
"The East Coast trip is kind of a reward for the seniors who have been with me from the beginning," said La Costa Canyon Head Coach Dallas Hartley, now in his fifth year at the helm. "It's fun for the kids to see where they stand against teams from other regions."
While hoping to be competitive against some of Maryland's stronger programs, Hartley isn't overly concerned with the final outcomes.
"We don't know what's going to happen, but we'd certainly like to play well," he said. "For us, it's a win-win situation. If we lose, nobody is expecting us to win anyway. And if we do win, it helps to really establish ourselves and our program."
• In the biggest game of the season, to date, in Northern California, Monte Vista Danville handed St. Ignatius Prep its first loss of the year, downing the Wildcats 12-8 on Tuesday night. Brothers Dylan and Ryan Westfall paced the Mustangs at each end of the field, with sophomore Dylan registering 16 saves and senior captain Ryan leading the attack with four goals and two assists.
The Bay Area's top two teams entered the game with a combined 16-1 record, with the only mark against either coming in Monte Vista Danville's loss to La Costa Canyon last month.
MVD Head Coach Adam Lechner, who watched his team jump ahead 4-0 in the first quarter, said the quick start was key to the victory.
""We've had some problems this year getting off to slow starts and coming out flat," he said. "Our whole game plan was to come out hard and come out fast and take them out of any game plan they had."
Lechner also noted that Monte Vista Danville's two losses to its Bay Area rival in 2005 may have actually helped fuel this victory.
"That was definitely a factor," he said. "We've only managed to beat them once previously and it's a heated rivalry between the two schools. It's the East Bay - San Francisco (rivalry) going. The San Francisco peninsula area likes to think they have the best lacrosse and we like to say we have the best lacrosse. Every time we play it's just a battle."
• The Bay Area will also be the focus for the girls' game this week, with several of the state's top teams scheduled to compete among the 50 teams in this weekend's Western States Tournament, hosted by Stanford University in Palo Alto. Teams from Southern and Northern California will be joined by squads from Arizona, Oregon and Washington for the event.
Undefeated St. Ignatius Prep, which appears to be the class of the north, will battle two of San Diego's best in Poway and La Jolla in the tournament on Saturday.
"The real bonus of being in this tournament is that we get to see teams from out of our area," said St. Ignatius Prep's first-year coach Tiffany Basilio. "We don't always have a chance to play teams from out-of-state or from the South."
The schedule doesn't get any easier for Basilio's team next week as they are scheduled to host La Costa Canyon, currently the team to beat in the South. Both are likely to still be unbeaten when they meet in next week's north-south state showdown.
"I guess that's the big game of the year," said Basilio.
• In addition to those mentioned above, some of the others that rank among the state's best this season include Menlo, California, Amador Valley, San Ramon Valley, and Coronado.
• Back on the East Coast, Maryland's Georgetown Visitation girls' team improved to 8-1 following a 15-4 win over Loyola Academy from Illinois this week. Georgetown's early-season success also includes intersectional wins against St. Andrew's of Florida, Kinkaid School of Texas, and Choate Rosemary and Middlesex from the New England region. It's only loss came by three goals against Kent Denver.
• In Northern Virginia, highly-regarded Robinson is off to a 5-0 start, including a win over two-time state public school champion W.T. Woodson, as well as victories over Lake Braddock and Oakton.
