With early wins, boys’ lacrosse builds momentum

Photo by Now & Forever Studios

Midfield player Matt Horvath rushes towards the goal after intercepting a pass from the opposing team.

Head Coach: Jeff Roper

Last year’s record: 3-3

Recap: To mitigate direct contact during the 2020-21 season, the team faced opponent one time instead of the usual two, leading to a shortened season

Key Matchups: Carlmont High School,  Aragon High School

Star Players: Seniors midfield Matt Horvath, midfield Victor Nyden, midfield/long stick midfield Kendal Jarvis, attack Ed Greene and midfield Nathan Zaragoza

Key losses to graduation: Midfield Josh Roper, attack Kimball Small, midfield/long stick midfield Ekin Celik

League: SCVAL – El Camino 

Prognosis: 

The Falcons won their first four league games starting with a dominant 9-1 preseason opening win against Latino College Preparatory Academy on Feb. 17. They won 6-2 in a home game against Leland High School on March 15,  9-8 in a home game against Aragon High School on March 10, 13-4 in an away game against Pioneer High School on March 8 and 8-1 in a home game against Woodside High School on March 1. While last year, in an attempt to decrease COVID-19 transmission, the number of games the lacrosse team played was halved, the team is expected to play a full set of 16 league games this season. 

The team’s successes thus far have not been without challenges: Most notably, the Falcons lost eight players to graduation. The team now numbers 21 players, enough to make up a full varsity team with a comfortable number of subs, but not enough to form a JV team, senior attack Nathan Zargoza said. 

Despite relatively low numbers, senior captain and midfield Victor Nyden has high expectations for this season as he has seen the players’ increasing vigor reflected in their practices and games. 

“It’s incredible how much we’re improving as a team. Yesterday, we had practice and we were running plays that I’ve never seen us run before,” Nyden said. 

Midfield player Sawyer Chao, the only freshman on the team, said he has warmed up to both the environment and his fellow teammates. Because the team is mostly seniors, his teammates emphasized guiding him and their newer members through plays, which he quickly adjusted to.

“I am a little scared of getting injured out there because I’m playing against guys two to three years older than me and it’s a pretty high intensity sport,” Chao said. “Still, I’m pretty good friends with all the other guys and I’m liking the sport, so overall I think I’ll be good.”

Another slight roadblock at the start of the season was that many multi-sport athletes on the team were unable to attend practices because other winter sports like soccer were still wrapping up. In spite of this, head coach Jeff Roper said that the team did “a really good job” of working together on both offense and defense.

Because of the team’s strong early start enabled by their ability to collaborate on the field, Nyden is hopeful the team will make CCS.

“It’s going to be a great season,” Nyden said.