Boys varsity lacrosse successfully defended their title as league champions on April 18 against Royal High School. The victory celebrated the grit and talent of the student athletes and coaches that make up the program.
“Winning again was awesome. We all got super hype and went to reveal the banner that showed we had won the league,” junior captain Grey Stevens said. “The boys were just super hype and took a bunch of flicks with the trophy.”
The team has proved themselves to be a strong program at Oak Park High School for many years. Success is a process made of many factors.
“Our key to success this season has been a change of personnel and playing hard teams at the beginning of the season,” head coach Max Luchs said. “That was really rewarding and made us better.”
Challenging games are known to bring out the best and worst in teams. Often, some of the most exciting moments of the season were created in high intensity matches.
“The highlight of the season was the overtime win versus Crean Lutheran. We were definitely not favored in that game, they were runner-ups in the division three championship. They tied it up in the last four seconds of the game, then Colton scored in overtime. It was pretty awesome,” Stevens said.
Mistakes are made all the time in sports games. However, in tight games, mistakes become apparent and can be lethal.
“The mistake I made was just unfortunate as I shot with less than a minute left and they scored which made my stomach drop,” junior captain Colton Winsick said. “But in the end, I was super excited to have won in overtime.”
Mistakes and losses are part of playing a sport. It was not all win after win for the team this season.
“We lost a few non-league games against really good teams in the beginning of the season,” sophomore Jayden Mehta said. “But when we started winning, the momentum really picked up and we got on a winning streak that carried us all the way to the league title.”
The season is not over yet for the boys. They are confident and excited as they head into the playoffs.
“Our expectations for the rest of the season are to make it pretty far in the playoffs. We have a really solid team this year and I expect us to do well,” Stevens said.
The boys lacrosse team is so much more than simply playing the sport. Games are only one aspect of all of the time the team spends together.
“We have a ton of fun out there on the lacrosse field. We just added a JV team this year,” Luchs says. “It’s a growing sport in California and in Ventura county. We have a blast, we just want to get more people out here, fans, and any other guys who are interested.”
