Santa Margarita Eagles Lacrosse

It's a Boy!!!!!

Congratulations to Tracy and Vince Garcia!!! Today they welcomed Ethan Vinicio Garcia to the world weighing in at 8lbs & 12 oz's at 12:05pm. The SM Lacrosse Family is very happy for the Garcia Family! Now put an order in for some mini lacrosse gear and a stick!

Eagles Regain their Mojo-Advance to Quarterfinals

The old sports adage states that you want to peak as a team as you move through the playoffs. The Eagles looked to do just that as they jumped on #12 seed Newport Harbor with an 8 goal lead at halftime and cruised to a 12-3 victory.

In front of a home field crowd and a picture perfect day of Southern California weather, the Eagles stepped up their game and played some of their best lacrosse of the season. Another balanced offensive output saw 9 different players score or assist on a goal. Sophomore Griffin Foster set the pace early and often and collected 5 points on 3 goals and 2 assists. Senior Matt Dolan added 3 goals on precision shooting. Blake Buckley added 2 goals and an assist and Reiley Higgins added 2 goals. Rounding out the scoring was Cory Thomson with a goal and an assist; Kyle Spierkel with a goal and Ryan Richards and Defenseman Frankie Berry added and an assist.

Defensively, Conor Mullarky and Justin Malloy led the defense with 5 ground balls and Braden Kelly and Sam Applegate stifled any offensive Harbor attack. In the goal, Ronnie Pisano was clutch and netted 6 saves.

Next up for the #5 seeded Eagles is a rematch with #4 seed Los Alamitos. The quarterfinal game is scheduled for 5 pm on Thursday, May 6, at McAuliffe Jr High School in Los Alamitos. Grab your friends, family, neighbors and co-workers, take advantage of the carpool lane and show your Eagle Pride as they battle to make it to the Lacrosse Final Four!

GO EAGLES!

Eagles Down Over matched Bosco Team

In a Trinity League match up, the Eagles handily defeated the visiting Braves 18-0.

The scoring was fast and furious and led by Junior Braden Kelly who led all scorers with 5 goals. Eight other players scored or assisted including Reiley Higgins (3 goals/3 assists) Matt Dolan with 3 goals, Jordan Lievois and Adam Enochs notched 2 goals a piece. Barrett Kelly had (1 goal/2 assists) and Roman Spinosi chipped in a goal. Ryan Richards had a goal and the assist highlight of the game. Connor Ebner and Tanner Yuhas added an assist to round out the scoring.

On defense, Sam Applegate, Josh Kang and Steven Gould helped minimize the Braves offensive output and Goalie Jake Whelan notched a shut out.

Go Eagles!

Eagles Battle to the Wire, Fall Short to St. Margaret's

In a highly anticipated match between 2 of the top teams in Orange
County, the Eagles lost a hard fought game to Saint Margaret's 7-6.

In the opening minutes, the Eagles spotted the Tartans a 2 goal lead
and seemed out of sync. The team then got on track and scored 5
consecutive goals to take a 5-2 lead into halftime. Senior Jordan
Lievois got the Eagles on the board, followed by a Matt Dolan goal
with a nice assist by Griffin Foster. With the game tied 2-2, the
Eagles scored 3 more goals in a 4 minute period. Junior Reiley Higgins
scored consecutive goals; the second from a timely assist by Sean
Cannon. Higgins then found sophomore Connor Ebner who ripped a goal to
give the Eagles a 3 goal lead.

In the second half, the Tartans controlled possession and scored 4
unanswered goals. Down 6-5, Foster dished to Lievois who scored his
2nd goal and tied the game. Late in the game, St. Margaret's scored the
go ahead goal and the Eagles last second attempts to tie the score,
fell short.

In defeat, Conor Mullarky and Ryan Donegan played strong defense and
Ronnie Pisano was solid as he made numerous point blank saves
throughout the night.

The Eagles have a chance to get even when they face the Tartans on
April 28 at St. Margarets.

Luher Scores 8 to Lead Men’s Eagle JV over St Margaret’s

On Friday afternoon, the Men’s JV Eagles carried their unblemished 5-0 Trinity League record into their first match-up of the year against perennial league rival St. Margaret’s. As expected, it was a tough, well-played game by both sides. The Eagles used patient, precise ball control to exploit the St Margaret’s zone defense, while the Tartans relied on speed to thwart the close-checking Eagle defense. The teams see-sawed back and forth throughout the game, with the Eagles trailing by a score of 8-6 with 4 minutes left in the 4th quarter. In the end, the Eagles reached deep to come back, tying the score at 8-8 and then moving ahead on the eventual game winning goal. The Eagles held the ball on offense for the final 2 minutes to close out the game, winning 9-8.

In the end, the overwhelming difference in this game for the Eagles was the play of Andrew “Ocho” Luher. Luher was a dominating force on attack all day, registering 8 goals in the effort, with 3 goals in the last 4 minutes of the quarter, including the game tying and game winning goals, both coming with less than 3 minutes remaining. Chris Bohmfalk was instrumental to the offense, drawing the slide and working in tandem with Luher to assist on 3 goals. Johnny Gavin assisted on another. Nikko Heller (1 goal) and Garrett Parsons dominated in the faceoff circle, winning over 65% of the draws, enabling the Eagles possession offense to get into rhythm. The Eagles defense was stout as usual led by strong play from Spencer Tyler, Nick Begg and Ryan Shramo. Ian Babcock was solid in goal, making 10 saves against the potent St. Margaret’s offense.

The JV Eagles, now 11-1, have 3 games remaining. The next game is on Wednesday, April 21st against the El Dorado Golden Hawks, a team the Eagles defeated 11-0 in their first meeting this year. Then, the JV Eagles have another tough game in a rematch against Tartans at St. Margaret’s on April 28th. Finally, Coaches Scott Morse, Mark Conboy and their JV Eagles squad close out the season with a home game against Mater Dei on Friday, April 30th.

Eagles Drop First Trinity League Game

After defeating the Lions in their fist match up of the season, the Eagles failed
to stop J Serra in a 12-8 defeat. In what was far from the team’s finest effort, the Lion’s used the home field advantage and some timely scoring to hand the Eagles their first league loss. The team struggled in the first half and ran out of time before completing a 2nd half comeback.

Offensively, six Eagles scored or assisted including Reiley Higgins (3 goals/1 assist), Griffin Foster with 2 goals and Ryan Richards, Cory Thomson and Blake Buckley with a goal a piece. Matt Dolan also added an assist.

The schedule doesn’t get any easier as the eagles prepare to face league rival, St. Margaret’s on Friday night. The game will be held at MVHS and featured as the Cox Game of the Week. Come out and show your support of HS lacrosse and the Eagle team.

Eagles Win 3 straight – Big Week in Trinity Lies Ahead

The Eagles improved their record to 8-1 after three impressive
victories in Trinity League play.

Against Servite, the offense was lead by sophomores Connor Ebner who
was on fire with 4 goals and fellow classmate Kyle Spierkel who
tallied 3 goals in a 10-3 victory.

St John Bosco was up next and it was a tough day to play the Eagles. A
well balanced attack led by seniors Matt Dolan and Tanner Yuhas
combined with a stealth defensive effort by Jake "The Fridge" Whelan"
propelled the Eagles to a 19-0 win.

The Monarchs from Mater Dei were up next. After a close 1st quarter,
the Eagle offense pulled away as junior Reiley Higgins tied the school
record set by Jack Cranston with 7 goals. Strong defense led by
Frankie Berry kept Mater Dei in check in a 16-6 victory.

Next weeks schedule has SM facing league rivals, J Serra and St. Margaret’s.
Come out and support the boys!

Mens JV down Mater Dei, 12-3

Wednesday night, the Eagles Men’s JV defeated the Mater Dei Monarchs by a score of 12-3. The Eagles jumped out front quickly and led 6-0 at half. It was a stellar team effort, with eight players scoring goals. Daniel Streit led the way with 3 goals, with Chris Bohmfalk and Nikko Heller each contributing 2 goals to the effort. Andrew Luher, Johnny Gavin, Charlie Hull, Matt Matula and Garrett Parsons had a goal each. Andrew Luher assisted on 3 tallies and Kyle Rosenberg on one. One of the game highlights was turned in by Garrett Parsons, who won a third quarter face-off, gathered the ground ball and carried directly into the Mater Dei zone for a quick shot and unassisted score. The Eagles defense was strong as usual, with Spencer Tyler and Garrett Parsons teaming to collect 12 ground balls. Ian Babcock, A.J. Novolbilski and Blake Yuhas combined in goal for the win. The Eagles look to build on their 8-1 record with the El Dorado Golden Hawks coming into town next Saturday April 10th.

Eagles Drop 1st game of season to Top Ranked Team in State

The Eagles knew they would have to play their best lacrosse of the season in order to compete with La Costa Canyon, the #1 ranked team in California. And for the first part of the game, the Eagles did just that – out hustling, winning ground balls and playing tough defense. But a three goal spurt in a matter of 4 minutes into the 2nd quarter, proved insurmountable as the Eagles fell to LCC by a score of 10-3.

The Eagles struggled to win ball possession and as a result had difficulty getting their offensive transition on track. In the 2nd half, the shots began to find the net and Blake Buckley, Reiley Higgins and Connor Ebner all notched goals. Conor Mullarky made his presence known by playing tough D and collecting 5 groundballs.

The Eagles will look to rebound back to their winning ways on Wednesday when they face Servite for the 2nd time this season.
Game time is at 7 pm at SM.

Eagles Outlast Lions - Remain Undefeated

In a much anticipated Trinity League battle, it was Santa Margarita that took a big step forward in defending their title by defeating rival, J Serra, in a 8-6 contest.

The Eagles wasted little time by getting on the board with 2 quick goals in the first 5 minutes. Junior speedster Cory Thomson started the scoring spree with the game's first goal; followed quickly by a goal from Sophomore middie, Kyle Spierkel.

Sophomore Griffin Foster set up the offense with laser like precision passing which led to 2 assists and Senior Sean Andrews found Junior Reiley Higgins for a well executed quick stick goal. On offense, Thomson led all scorers with 4 goals followed by 3 goals from Higgins.

On Defense, Coach Z had his squad ready to play. The depth of this unit was evident as players like Sam Applegate and Steven Gould both contributed with big plays and solid defense. Ryan Donegan continues to make a huge impact (literally) with his aggressive and punishing defensive style. Although saddled by the flu, sophomore goalie Ronnie Pisano stepped up and put forth another solid performance to help the Eagles win their 5th consecutive game of the 2010 season.

Next up for the Eagles is a home game on Saturday at 7 pm versus La Costa Canyon. After their victory over Coronado earlier in the week, LCC will likely be the topped rank team in the state of California.

Let’s make sure we give our Eagles the home field advantage by being there, wearing our Eagle colors and being loud!

Eagles Stay Hot - Defeat Los Al

Last year, the turning point in the game against Los Al was a buzzer beater goal as the horn sounded. This year a different type of play, but equally as effective, turned out to be the momentum swing the Eagles needed. With a 3-3 tie midway through the 3rd quarter, Defenseman Justin Malloy alertly desticked a distracted Los Al player, scooped the ball and passed to Reiley Higgins who drove to the goal, dished to Griffin Foster, who found the back of the net and put the Eagles up for good. From that point, the Eagles ran off 3 consecutive goals and beat the highly ranked Griffins 7-3 in an away match in Los Alamitos.

Junior attackman Ryan Richards registered a game-high four points on three goals and one assist to lead the Eagles, while Junior middie Cory Thompson added a pair of goals to help the Eagles (4-0) win their fourth straight to start the season. Freshman middie Cameron Stone and sophomore attackman Griffin Foster each scored goals to round out the offense for Santa Margarita.

Defensively, sophomore goalie Ronnie Pisano saved nine shots, senior defenseman Frankie Berry picked up nine ground balls and senior defenseman Justin Malloy had a standout effort. Malloy held Los Alamitos senior attackman Michael Marchand to just one goal.

“The first half, we were pretty mediocre,” Santa Margarita head coach Chris Driggs said. “In the second half, we just came out and shut them down. We scored some goals at pivotal times.”

Trinity League rival J Serra visits SM on Thursday at 3:30 pm. This is the biggest game of the season so far for the Eagles. Bring your family and neighbors - Come out and show your eagle SPIRIT. Wear your EAGLE BLUE, and BE LOUD!

Eagles Dominate the Diablos

A few days earlier in the week, the Men’s Varsity squad got off to a slow start before eventually pulling away from Trinity League opponent, Servite, in a 10-5 victory. Whatever message Coach Driggs delivered to the team prior to their battle versus cross town rival Mission Viejo, it seemed to have worked. The Eagles jumped on the Diablos with 6 consecutive goals in the first quarter in route to a convincing 14-4 victory. It was the first loss for the preseason #9 ranked team in Orange County.

The Eagles offense continues to show it’s depth with 8 players notching goals. Juniors Cory Thomson and Ryan Richards led all scorers with 3 goals. Sophomore Griffin Foster had 2 goals and 2 assists, while Senior Matt Dolan added 2 goals. Reiley Higgins chipped in a goal and an assist and Jordan Lievois, Sean Cannon and Kyle Spierkel each scored a goal.

On the other side of the field, the defense set the tone with their physical play and ability to scoop the loose balls. For the second consecutive game, senior Justin Malloy led the team with 8 groundballs. Goalie Ronnie Pisano had another solid effort with 9 saves in the net and the play of the night when he decleated his opponent on a 1 on 1 fast break.

The Eagles face their most challenging stretch of games of the season this week as they play 3 top teams in Southern California. First up, will be an away game versus Los Al on Monday at McAuliffe M.S. at 4:30 pm.

Come out support your Eagles!

Mens JV downs Servite, 6-1

The weather turned cold, but the SMCHS Men’s JV Lacrosse Team remained hot, defeating Servite by a score of 6-1. The game was close at halftime, with the Eagles leading 2-1. The Eagles offense was persistent and gained momentum in the second half, outscoring the Friars 4-0. Niko Heller (3 goals, 2 assists + game ball award) and Andrew Luher (3 goals) led the way in scoring, while RJ Mazolewski led the middies with 5 groundballs. The hidden storyline in this game was another strong showing by the Eagles defense, lead by Spencer Tyler (5 groundballs), Ryan Shramo, Garrett Parsons and Matt Casey – who all worked together to help limit the Friars to a total of 7 shots all game. Next up, the Eagles meet cross-town rivals, Mission Viejo at SMCHS on Friday 3/12 at 5pm.

Eagles Impress in Season Opener

The home made clam chowder was simmering; the blue and gold balloons lined the stands and the Steel Drum Ensemble was in perfect harmony. Combine that with weather in the mid 40's and you guessed it - the SM lacrosse season was underway!

First up for the Eagles, were the Lancers from Thousand Oaks. One Lancer parent was overheard saying, "we thought the hardest part of today was going to be the drive down to south Orange County - unfortunately that was much less challenging than tonight's game against the Eagles...."

The Eagles started fast and never let up in a convincing 17-1 win to kick start their season. It was a total team effort with 10 players notching goals for the Eagles. Cory Thomson and Kyle Spierkel led the offensive assault with 3 goals each. Jordan Leivois, Reiley Higgins, and Griffin Foster added a pair of goals and Matt Dolan, Adam Enochs, Barrett Kelly, Ryan Dewane and Cameron Stone each contributed with 1 goal.

On the defensive side of the field, Frankie Berry played solid defense to keep the Lancers in check. Between the pipes, Ronnie Pisano was a rock – only giving up one goal and collecting 6 saves, while Jake “The Fridge” Whelan turned in the Defensive Play of the Game with his “not in my house” save late in the game.

Next up for the (1-0) Eagles is a Trinity League opponent: at Servite on Wednesday, March 10th.

Come out and show your Eagle Spirit!

Mens JV Eagles defeat Thousand Oaks, 17-0

SMCHS JV Boys Lacrosse opened their season on Friday with a 17-0 victory over the visiting Thousand Oaks Lancers. The JV Eagles were led by several players with multi-goal games including Andrew Luher (4 goals, 2 assists), Nikko Heller (3 Goals, 2 assists), Chris Bohmfalk (3 goals) and Kyle Rosenberg (2 goals). Daniel Streit, Hank Reuter, Charlie Hull and Brian Gould contributed to the effort with a goal apiece. The Eagles dominated in the faceoff circle, winning 13 of 19. The Eagle defense, led by Spencer Tyler (one goal) was solid all game, quickly smothering any offensive threats mounted by the Lancers. Ian Babcock, AJ Novolbilski and Blake Yuhas combined in goal to preserve the shutout. Next, the Eagles face their first Trinity league opponent, Servite on Wed March 10th.

Chasing Foothill

The question facing the Men’s Santa Margarita Eagle Varsity Lacrosse team entering the 2010 season is the same question all of the upper echelon programs around Orange County are asking themselves: Is this our year to break through for a County Championship? Of course the road to a championship leads directly through Foothill High School.

The CIF Southern Section sanctioned Lacrosse as a Varsity sport in 2006 and currently there remains an insufficient amount of high schools participating to crown an official CIF champion. However a playoff system does exist and an Orange County Champion is crowned every year. The Foothill Knights have won all three of the tournaments in 2007, 2008 and 2009. In fact, since 2001 Foothill has won 8 of 9 OC Championships going back to the beginning of the decade before Lacrosse was sanctioned.

Foothill coach Jon Fox grew up in Chico, CA playing football and baseball in high school. Fox was introduced to Lacrosse while attending UC Irvine in 1991 and began coaching University High School while still in college. He became University’s head coach after graduating from UCI but only stayed one year. Fox started the Foothill High School Lacrosse Club in 1999 approximately five years before most high school or middle school kids in Orange County knew what a Lacrosse stick looked like.

“The reason they (Foothill) got a head start was Coach Jon Fox developed a feeder system through Hewes Middle School,” said Santa margarita Head Coach and former University of Virginia stand out Chris Driggs. “He was one of the first programs to begin, so that head start translated into better skilled players.”

Coach Driggs started the OC Starz club program in 2004 and the current Santa Margarita varsity roster includes many players who have been playing under him for several years before arriving as Freshman at Santa Margarita. This coupled with the fact that the CIF rule eliminating the limit on coaching kids in the “off-season” should lead to large strides in the Santa Margarita program.

“I feel it (the CIF rule change) has allowed the dedicated players in Orange County to get better by playing more months of the year…not just Spring,” said Driggs. “Santa Margarita players happen to fall into the dedicated group, so this has helped us get better as a program.

Coach Fox does not believe the rule change has helped Foothill. “The changing of the association rule has allowed programs to continue to improve year around and has leveled out the playing field,” said Fox. “Foothill doesn’t typically do that much off-season as we encourage our kids to play other sports. I think the ruling has helped other schools more so than ours, but that has been good for the development of Lacrosse.”

So we come back to the original question: Is this Santa Margarita’s year? Coach Driggs wouldn’t answer that question specifically but he did offer this. “I think we are ready to play any team that is out there, and the goal is to beat every team we play.”

Santa Margarita does not play Foothill this year in the regular season so it looks like this question will not be answered until the playoffs begin in May. If you are curious what the experts think at Westside LAX I can borrow some lyrics from The Who’s Roger Daughtry and Pete Townsend. “Meet the new boss…same as the old boss”.

Snack Shack Specials in March!

The following are the specials that the snack shack will be serving for the March Mens Home Games!

Specials for March 5th Men’s JV and Varsity
Homemade Lenten Clam Chowder
Cheese Stromboli
Vegetarian Chili

Specials for March 12th- Men’s JV and Varsity
Homemade Lenten Clam Chowder
Vegetarian Chili
Minestrone Soup

Specials for March 18th- Men’s JV and Varsity
Sliders

Specials for March 24th- Men’s JV and Varsity
Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Specials for March 29th - Men’s JV
Meatball Sandwiches with Provolone Cheese

At each game we will also have baked potatoes with all the fixins’, quesadillas, and hot dogs, too!

Signing Day

Santa Margarita Senior Midfielder Jordan Leivois and Senior Defensemen Justin Malloy signed national letters of intent to play Lacrosse at Mesa State College in Grand Junction, Colorado on Wednesday, February 3rd aka National Signing Day.

“The SM Lacrosse program is very proud of Justin and Jordan taking the next step to be a student-athlete in college playing NCAA Lacrosse,” said Santa Margarita Head Coach Chris Driggs. “This is an example of how good the game of lacrosse is getting out west. I think Mesa State could be a great place for other Santa Margarita players to go in the future.

The Mesa State Mavericks will begin its inaugural season of Men’s Lacrosse this fall and are led by newly named Head Coach A.J. Stevens. Stevens previously led the University of Illinois Lacrosse program and also has experience coaching the Chicago Machine a Major League Lacrosse franchise.

“Mesa State is a brand new program that has never played an NCAA game to date. The Fall of 2010 will be their first season, so getting players like Jordan and Justin will help them to become a successful program sooner than later,” said Coach Driggs. These guys were good enough to play at college programs back east, but they chose to stay out west to help build the sport in their neck of the woods. The verdict is out, but I think Mesa State will be young and hungry.”

West Side Lax Mens Preview

The Mens Varsity lacrosse team was recently named in the yearly West Side Lax preview of the Southern Section as a divisional contender, the following is part of the article:

Santa Margarita Catholic has good depth, with the core of the team being sophomores and juniors, and the Eagles will be a bolstered by three sophomore transfers: attackman Griffin Foster from Beckman, middie Connor Ebner from St. Margaret’s and defenseman/long-stick middie Josh Kang from St. Margaret’s. Mesa State-bound senior middie Jordan Lievois and Mesa State bound senior long-stick middie Justin Malloy will team with sophomore goalie Ronnie Pisano and junior middie Cory Thomson to make a formidable group.

Mens Practice Time Update

For all Mens Practice times that were originally set for 7:30 PM please show up by 7 PM so that all athletes can participate in warm ups and stretching. The calendar has been updated, please scroll over the days for the most up-to-date practice schedule.

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*Scroll Over a Day to See Game and Practice Schedules
View Detailed Calendar

Wed. November 18 @ 7 PM
Parents Meeting
@ SMCHS C108

View our own Collection of Game Day Photography taken by our Eagle Parents! Click here to go to our Gallery

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2009 Blue vs. Gold Game
Alumni/Coaches vs. Varsity
Saturday, July 11
Result:
Alumni/Coaches 11
Varsity 10

Visit the Alumni Page

Coming Soon

Lax Power Computer Ratings
Mens Varsity Rankings:
CIF Rankings | Team Page

West Side Lax Lacrosse News

Coming Soon

Varsity

Junior Varsity

Team

Win

Loss

Santa Margarita

0.000

J Serra

0.000

Mater Dei

0.000

Servite

0.000

St. John Bosco

0.000

St. Margaret's

0.000

Trinity League

Overall

Date	Team	Time	W/L
3/5	Thousand Oaks	7 PM	-
3/10	@Servite*	4:30 PM	-
3/12	Mission Viejo	7 PM	-
3/15	Los Alamitos	4:40 PM	-
3/18	J Serra*	3:30 PM	-
3/24	Servite*	7 PM	-
3/27	@St. John Bosco*	11:30 AM	-
3/31	@Mater Dei	5:30 PM	-
4/9	@LCC Shootout
4/10	@LCC Shootout
4/13	@J Serra*	5:30 PM	-
4/16	St. Margaret's*	6 PM	-
4/24	St. John Bosco*	11 AM	-
4/28	@St. Margaret's*	6 PM	-
4/30	Mater Dei*	7 PM	-
*Indicates League Game

Santa Margarita Catholic H.S.

CIF Southern Section - Division 1

Official Conditioning Program
Vince Garcia

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