The Eastlake High School boys lacrosse team has an opportunity to secure the team’s fourth consecutive Mesa League championship with a victory at arch rival Otay Ranch on Thursday and, in the process, also secure a trip to the San Diego Section playoffs.
The Titans enter Thursday’s game with a 6-0 league record, 10-5 overall record, and a one-game lead in the loss column on the Mustangs (4-1 in league, 9-6 overall).
Eastlake has two regular season games remaining on its schedule; Otay Ranch has four, including three league games.
Otay Ranch needs a win on Thursday to have a chance at settling for a co-championship with Eastlake. The Mustangs have won their last three games, including Monday’s key 9-6 victory at Hilltop.
The Titans defeated visiting Olympian, 12-5, on Monday and topped host Bonita Vista, 14-3, in their previous league game on April 21.
Eastlake has won eight of its last nine games.
EHS coach Kevin McPeak, who has taken over the reins of the program this year, said his team played its “most complete game” of the season in defeating Bonita Vista, which had given the Titans their closest challenge in league (a 7-4 Eastlake win) in the teams’ league opener.
“The No. 1 thing that I saw (in the April 21 win over the Barons) that I’m most pleased with was the unselfish play,” McPeak explained. “One of the mantras we teach is not to look for your best shot but to look for the best shot, even if that means passing it to a teammate to do so. The team’s success is due to all the other players on the team, not just a few.”
Nine players combined for shots in the latest win over Bonita Vista, with six players scoring goals.
Freshman Jaxen Trinidad paced the visitors with three goals and two assists against the Barons while Michaelangelo Aguirre (three goals, one assist) and Matthew Stuber (two goals, two assists) each collected four points in the game. Sophomore Evan Farrage (three goals) and senior Asanti Baltazar (two goals, one assist) each collected three points while junior Ethan Nacif scored one goal.
Killian Adwell led the Titans defensively with five ground balls while Jorge Amador had four ground balls. Goaltender Nathan McPeak made 12 saves on 15 BV shots.
Eastlake led 8-1 at halftime after exploding for five goals in the second quarter. Bonita Vista dropped to 2-3 in league play, 6-8 overall, with the loss to the Titans.
Monday’s game against Olympian was closer. Eastlake led 2-0 at the end of the first quarter and 5-2 at halftime before the Eagles rallied to make it a two-goal game – 7-5 – by outscoring the hosts 3-2 in the third quarter. But home field advantage proved just that as the Titans reeled off a 5-0 scoring edge in the pivotal fourth quarter to claim a seven-goal victory.
The offense was spread out again, with 11 players taking shots and eight players recording either a goal or assist.
Farrage led Eastlake with four goals, followed by Stuber with three goals and Baltazar and Nacif each with two goals. Cesar Chavoya also scored one goal while Joseph Carino and Issac Valdovinos each were credited with one assist. McPeak made eight saves while Adwell, Valdovinos and Baltazar each recorded three ground balls.
The win over Olympian moved the Titans to within one win of clinching no worse than a league co-championship.
“Our goal as a team coming into this season was to win league,” the elder McPeak explained. “We still have quite a bit of work to do. We think we still have tough games ahead of us. We still have plenty ahead of us to meet that goal.”
While Eastlake may present an ongoing terror to many South County teams, the Titans still have a bit to build on to challenge some of the top teams in the section. Eastlake dropped an 11-5 non-league game to seventh-ranked Westview on the Saturday (April 23) between the Bonita Vista and Olympian league match-ups.
Stuber, a junior, scored three goals against the Wolverines while Aguirre scored two goals, Valdovinos scooped up seven ground balls and McPeak had 17 saves.
The Titans have played a total of four top 10-ranked teams this season, including three during the team’s opening six games. Eastlake is 0-4 in those encounters, losing 11-1 to Carlsbad, 12-6 to Santa Fe Christian and 9-4 to Mt. Carmel besides the loss to Westview.
Still, the Titans – braced by 11 seniors — look to be competitive once again in the playoffs. Eastlake holds down the No. 4 power ranking among Division I teams. Moreover, the Titans own a 6-5 victory this season against Granite Hills, the No. 1-ranked team in the power rankings
“The last two years we’ve won our first playoff game,” McPeak noted. “Our goal (this year) is to make a run in CIF. We’ve deliberately scheduled very tough teams at the beginning of the season. We were 2-4 at one point. But the boys trusted the program. We played two top 10 teams and the results are showing now.”
Top scorers this season for Eastlake include Farrage (27 goals, 34 points), Stuber (22 goals, 32 points), Trinidad (14 goals, 28 points), Baltazar (17 goals, 22 points) and Nacif (15 goals, 20 points).
Baltazar leads the team defensively with 34 ground balls while goalie Nathan McPeak has a 5.8 goals-against average and 0.6 save percentage.
The elder McPeak credits former coach Nestor Rosas, who retired from the program after eclipsing the career 100-win mark, with created an atmosphere where the sport can continue to grow on campus.
“We graduated a strong senior class last year,” McPeak explained. “That senior class was one of the best senior classes that the Metro has seen. We did have to teach a lot of guys new stuff but we owe a lot to Nestor for creating the culture to draw that talent from.”
Titans top Mustangs, 8-5, to collect fourth straight league title
The Eastlake High School boys lacrosse team captured their fourth consecutive Mesa League championship after defeating host Otay Ranch, 8-5, on Thursday. The win raised the Titans’ league record to 7-0 with one game remaining on the team’s regular season schedule.
Eastlake improved to 11-5 overall.
Otay Ranch, which had a chance to earn a co-championship with the Titans with a win in Thursday’s game, fell to 4-2 in league play, 9-7 overall.
Jaxen Trinidad led Eastlake on the scoreboard with three goals and two assists while Evan Farrage scored three times. Michaelangelo Aguirre contributed four assists while Matthew Stuber and Cesar Chavoya each scored one goal.
Nathan McPeak recorded 15 saves while allowing five goals for a 80 percent save percentage in the game between east side arch rivals.
The Titans, who close out league play May 2 with a game against visiting Hilltop, led 6-1 at halftime. However, Otay Ranch narrowed the score to 6-4 by scoring three times in the third quarter. The visitors secured the championship by posting a 2-1 scoring edge in a tense fourth quarter.
Farrage leads Eastlake in season scoring with 30 goals and 37 assists while Stuber (23 goals, 10 assists) and Trinidad (17 goals, 16 assists) rank in a tie for second place with 33 points.
Defensively, Asanti Baltazar keys the Titans with 37 ground balls, followed by teammate Joseph Carino with 35 ground balls. McPeak has a 5.4 goals-against average and 0.7 save percentage in 696 minutes played.
Mesa League Standings
(Through April 28)
Eastlake Titans 7-0, 11-5
Otay Ranch Mustangs 4-2, 9-7
Bonita Vista Barons 3-3, 8-8
Olympian Eagles 2-5, 8-11-1
Hilltop Lancers 0-6, 9-8
Thursday, April 28
Eastlake 8, Otay Ranch 5
Bonita Vista 10, Olympian 4
Monday, April 25
Otay Ranch 9, Hilltop 6
Eastlake 12, Olympian 5
Bonita Vista 14, Valhalla 6
Thursday, April 21
Eastlake 14, Bonita Vista 3
Olympian 8, Hilltop 6
South Bay League Standings
(Through April 28)
Montgomery Aztecs 4-0, 19-1
Southwest Raiders 3-1, 8-6
Mar Vista Mariners 0-3, 1-9
Chula Vista Spartans 0-3, 1-11
Thursday, April 28
Southwest 7, Chula Vista 0
Montgomery 18, Mar Vista 1
Monday, April 25
Montgomery 9, Southwest 3
Chula Vista at Mar Vista, no report
Thursday, April 21
Southwest 10, Mar Vista 2
Montgomery 14, Chula Vista 0
Wednesday, April 20
San Diego 11, Chula Vista 2
