Announcement
LA COSTA CANYON DOWNS WHEAT RIDGE
LA COSTA CANYON DOWNS WHEAT RIDGE
March 31st, 2011
No. 12 La Costa Canyon 16, No. 14 Wheat Ridge 7
By Nathan Max
WSL Executive Editor
CARLSBAD, Calif. — Junior attackman Brendan Gaughan registered a game-high six points on two goals and four assists to lead No. 12 La Costa Canyon to a decisive 16-7 victory over No. 14 Wheat Ridge in the second game of the Farmers’ Southern California road trip.
Senior middie Andrew Bertha added five points on four goals and one assist to help the Mavericks (5-1) bounce back from their loss over the weekend to No. 11 Foothill-Orange County. La Costa Canyon took the suspense out of the game early, jumping out to an 8-2 lead by the end of the first quarter.
The Mavericks led by as many as 10 early in the third.
“This week’s mentality has been four quarters of full lacrosse,” Gaughan said. “I thought today wasn’t perfect, but it was a better show of that.”
Senior middie Michael Gennuso finished with three points on two goals and one assist, senior attackman Sean Hayden scored twice and senior attackman Sammy Condurso had a goal and an assist for La Costa Canyon. Junior middie John Hester, senior middie Nick Compogiannis, junior attackman Zane O’Brien, freshman attackman Cameron Ziegler and senior defenseman Mike Riis all scored once.
On special teams, junior middie Tom Riis and senior middie Garrett Krstitch combined to go 21-6 on face-offs.
Defensively, senior goalie Eric Sanschagrin saved eight shots and conceded five goals in three quarters.
In defeat, senior middie Sander Aplet had three points on two goals and an assist, sophomore attackman Pete Aplet dished three assists and senior middie Ryan O’Connor scored twice for Wheat Ridge (4-2). Senior attackman Chris Roach sophomore middie Jacob Gladfelter and senior goalie Cody DeForge all scored once to round out the Farmers’ offense.
Wheat Ridge, which played without injured Notre Dame-bound senior middie Nick Ossello, is in the middle of a three-game road trip to San Diego County. The Farmers beat Otay Ranch, 8-1, Monday and will face San Marcos on Friday.
Last season, a far less-regarded Wheat Ridge team came to Carlsbad and almost knocked off a higher-regarded La Costa Canyon team. The Farmers are ranked in WSL’s Top 25 this week for the first time in program history after beating Fort Collins Unified last week.
But it was not the Farmers’ night.
The game was tied, 2-2, in the first quarter when La Costa Canyon began a 10-goal run that effectively ended it. Bertha started the run when he scored to put the Mavericks ahead, 3-2, with 7:39 remaining in the first quarter. Bertha later capped it when he put La Costa Canyon up 12-2 just 44 seconds into the third quarter.
“After two games of letting teams back in it after having big halftime leads, we preached playing four separate games,” La Costa Canyon head coach Jesse Foss said. “Basically, the goal was to win each quarter as a game, and we did that tonight.”
Wheat Ridge used a four-goal run to close within 12-6, but that was as close as the Farmers would get.
“I think that the first WSL ranking went to our heads,” Wheat Ridge head coach Chris Knott said. “They showed up and out-hustled us and outplayed us. That first quarter killed us. To give up eight goals in the first quarter is tough to recover from.”
No. 14 Wheat Ridge (4-2) 2 0 3 2 — 7
No. 12 La Costa Canyon (5-1) 8 2 2 4 — 16
Goals: WR: Ryan O’Connor 2, Sander Aplet 2, Chris Roach, Cody DeForge, Jacob Gladfelter. LCC: Andrew Bertha 4, Brendan Gaughan 2, Michael Gennuso 2, Sean Hayden 2, John Hester, Nick Compogiannis, Sammy Condurso, Zane O’Brien, Cameron Ziegler, Mike Riis.
Assists: WR: Pete Aplet 3, Sander Aplet. LCC: Brendan Gaughan 4, Andrew Bertha, Blaine Wetherheld, Michael Gennuso, Sammy Condurso.
Saves: WR: Cody DeForge 6. LCC: Eric Sanschagrin 8.
Shots: WR: 21. LCC: 28.
Face-Offs Won: WR: 6. LCC: 21.
Man-Up Opportunities: WR: 1-4. LCC: 0-0.
Lacrosse Season: 2011
