It was a close battle for the Coronado High School boys lacrosse team in the first three quarters of the CIF Division 1 Championship game against the Francis Parker Lancers.
“The first three quarters we were battling with them,” senior and captain Luca Salata said. “We were always up, but the score was within two, and then in the fourth quarter, I think everyone got less nervous and started to lock in, and we crushed them in the fourth quarter.”
With a one point edge over Francis Parker at the end of the third quarter at 6-5, Coronado doubled their existing points in the last 12 minutes of the game and held their opponent to only one more goal, clocking in a final score of 12-6.
It was a well-celebrated victory after a successful playoff run, especially considering the team’s first-round-of-playoffs loss to Bishop’s High School in the CIF Open Division last season.
This year’s championship win was an effort from both a consistent defense and an explosive offense.
The final score was secured by three goals each from Landon Sutherland, Jared Capin and Braydon Avallone, along with one from Salata and two from Jack Perry.
The defense consistently held the Lancers to no more than two goals per quarter, and that included keeping an eye on Mason Graves, a commit to Loyola University for Division 1 lacrosse, who faced-off against Coronado’s Robby Spane and matched up against Leo Salata on defense.
Goalie Charlie Laing, a senior and captain, racked up 16 saves, a game save rate of 76%.
“For defense, it was very stressful for us the whole game. I felt like we were really the rock that our team had to rely on,” Laing said.
He said that beyond communication, the key to a cohesive defense is being able to trust each other– which is something the whole team learned to do through a difficult season of injuries and a player leaving.
Salata said he was proud of the team for sticking with it through a lot of ups and downs.
“Everyone was very happy; everyone was relieved,” Salata said about the win. “We’ve been working for this all year—lifting in the off season, early morning practices—it felt really good that all of our hard work paid off.”
Alex Cade, the head coach, echoed this sentiment. He said he was proud of the team’s ability to weather injuries and challenges while maintaining a collective mindset to win the championship.
“It was a hard-fought game against a very worthy opponent,” Cade said. “We all know winning championships is not easy to do and I know the boys appreciate the achievement. We will miss our great seniors but we have a young team who is hungry for more.”
