La Costa Canyon Mavericks

By James Boyle
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 4/14/13

Who said the lacrosse out West is not as tough as it is in the East?

Saturday at the Nike “Checking for Cancer’ Lacrosse Invitational at Haverford School, the La Costa Canyon (CA) Mavericks showed just how tough the West Coast lacrosse players can be.

La Costa Canyon jumped to a 4-0 first-period lead and never looked back in defeating Penn Charter, 9-4, to cap a 2-1 run through the East Coast. The Mavericks improved to 7-2 and finished 2-1 overall in its East Coast swing, which included a 5-3 victory over St. Augustine Prep (N.J.) and a 9-4 loss to Salesianum School (DE).

La Costa assistant coach Matt Murphy, a graduate of Haverford High School who played college lacrosse at Hobart in upstate New York before heading to San Diego for a kinder climate, said there’s a lot to like about west coast lacrosse.

“Growing up you always heard West Coast lacrosse was a softer version of lacrosse and was never as intense as east coast [lacrosse],” said Murphy. “Since I’ve been out there, it’s been kind of an East Coast coaching staff and they’re trying to bring that East Coast mentality to the game out there.

“They’re definitely trying to play a much more gritty game than what would stereotypically be the California style of the game.

“You always know you’re going to get a great game out of teams from Philadelphia, and you know you’re going to get some hard-nosed (players) that are going to fight for every ball. So it’s good to get guys to react to that and play to that standard.”

Senior goalie Bryan Cooper had 13 saves for La Costa Canyon and Cameron Ziegler collected four goals and two assists.

“(We had) good communication on the field,” said Cooper. “And everyone’s kind of on the same page.

“Coming into the season, defense was supposed to be our weakness. But we’ve really come together and we’ve been a stronghold all year so far.”

La Costa, the CIF San Diego defending champion, took control of the game immediately with a 4-0 lead in the first quarter.

Kevin Murphy (two goals) got Penn Charter (8-6) on the board in the second quarter off an assist from James Vandegrift, but the Quakers never got closer.

“It was a good performance. A couple ones I wish I could have back,” said Cooper. “But all in all it was a great performance and the Defense really helped me out. This is the end of our trip [to the east coast] so it’s a great note to go off on.”

Aaron Loy added two goals for La Costa Canyon.

For Penn Charter, the defeat came less than 24 hours after a heartbreaking 8-7 double-overtime loss to Malvern Prep. The Quakers have lost three straight games since an eight-game win streak.

La Costa Canyon (CA) 9, Penn Charter 4

To watch game highlights on Inside Lacrosse go to: http://television.insidelacrosse.com/video/60a8d651-8951-4ed2-b8df-769a4285b5d7/la-costa-canyon-ca-vs-penn-charter-pa-highlights

The La Costa Canyon Mavericks (6-1) hosted open league rival, Bishops (2-4) on Tuesday night. The game started with LCC taking a 2-0 lead after the first quarter on goals by Cameron Zielger and Ben Keen. Bishops was able to take advantage of sloppy play by the Mavericks in the second quarter and took a 3-2 advantage into half time. LCC stormed out of the gates in the second half going on a 6-0 run to take a 8-3 lead that was highlighted by goals by Nick Vreeburg, Jared Maffucci, Cameron Ziegler, and Brent Melbye. The Mavericks dominated ground balls in the second half which turned into extra possession time on offense and some fantastic looks on offense. Bishops was able to score a few late goals and the game ended with LCC winning 8-5. Cameron Ziegler had another solid game finishing with 4 points (2 goals, 2 assists) and Jared Maffucci got in the scoring column with 2 great goals. Cole Tudor was once again instrumental in the win shutting down the teams best midfielder and aslo causing a season high, 7 caused turnovers! Bryan Cooper kept us in the game in the second quarter turning away several point blanks shots. He finished with 12 saves on the night. It was a great win for our seeding in the new ultra-competitive CIF Open Division. The Mavericks are back in action on Friday night at home against Colorado power, Regis Jesuit. The game is at 7pm. I hope to see everyone out there supporting the Mavs!

The LCC men’s team (51-1) was back in action last Friday against Wheatridge (4-3). The game started in favor of the visitors from Colorado as they scored the first 3 goals of the game. The Mavericks battled back to claim a 4-3 halftime lead after a nice goal by Sean Harvey to end the second quarter. LCC used steady play from their attack and solid defense from their midfielders to shut out the opposition in the 3rd quarter. The Mavericks score 6 goals on 9 shots on goal in the 2nd and 3rd quarters to take a dominant 7-3 lead going into the 4th quarter. When it was all said and done, LCC held the opposition scoreless for over 30 minutes and finish with a 9-5 win at home. At attack, Cameron Ziegler stepped up and score 4 goals against the non-sliding defense of Wheatridge. From the midfield, Aaron Loy had his breakout game of the early season scoring 2 goals. On defense, Cole Tudor and Kyle Mummau did an excellent job of neutralizing Wheatridge’s best player and being disruptive on the defensive end all night. It was a great win against a very strong team from Colorado. The Mavericks are back in action on Tuesday, April 2nd against Bishop’s HS. The game starts at 730pm.

The La Costa Canyon Men’s lacrosse team (4-1) got back into the winner’s column last night with a win over Northern California power, San Ramon Valley (5-3). San Ramon Valley struck first with a goal on their first possession. LCC came right back with a great goal to tie the game at one a piece. The first half was a back and forth battle until the Mavericks pulled ahead with a great goal by Sean Harvey off of a Cameron Ziegler assist. The teams went into the half time with LCC leading by a score of 4-3. In the second half, the Mavericks were able to push transition, control the ball on offense, and finish some great scoring opportunities. Sean Harvey was huge in the game scoring 2 goals on 3 shots, scooping up 3 ground balls, and going 4 of 10 on face offs. The attack really stepped up this game and led the team. Ben Keen found his game posting 3 goals on the night and Cameron Ziegler also finished with 2 goals, 2 assists for 4 points. The entire defense did an outstanding job once again. We were once again able to hold a very good team to under 5 goals! The Mavericks are back in action this Friday at LCC at 730pm against Wheatridge from Colorado. I hope to see everyone out there!

After finishing the 2012 season with a 22-1 record and a CIF Championship. The #1 team in the final 2012 Western Regional Rankings and #18 Nationally Ranked LCC men’s team starts the 2013 season ranked #5 behind Torrey Pines and St. Ignatius in Inside Lacrosse’s Preseason Regional Ranking.

WEST
1. St. Ignatius Prep (Calif.)
2. Torrey Pines (Calif.)
3. Columbine (Colo.)
4. Arapahoe (Colo.)
5. La Costa Canyon (Calif.)
6. Cathedral Catholic (Calif.)
7. Brophy Prep (Ariz.)
8. Rocky Canyon (Colo.)
9. Cherry Creek (Colo.)
10. Eastside Catholic (Wash.)
States: California, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas, Hawai’i, Alask

The Mavericks open up the 2013 season at home on March 12th against St. Margarets Episcopal. The game is scheduled for 7pm.