Which is the team to beat in California this season?
LaxRecords.com continues with its Looking Ahead series with its California 2017 Boys’ Lacrosse Preview. This is an early look at just some of the teams expected to compete for section championships and a few of the underclassmen who can make it a special season.
Related: 2016 Best Known Performances | 2016 Champions | California Best Known Records
Teams to Watch
Corona del Mar (Newport Beach, California)
The Sea Kings graduate several key players from last year’s team, including The Register’s Player of the Year, Jason Simaan. But CDM has talent returning on the defensive end with rising seniors Brennan Greenwald (LSM) and Jordan Pakzad (D) earning spots on the Under Armour West Highlight team.
Loyola-Los Angeles (Los Angeles)
Aidan Hesse (2018), St. John’s commit Nick Mohler (2017) and Joe Theuer (2017) all return from the team that won both the Southern CIF and LA/Ventura County titles last season. All three were named to the Under Armour West Highlight Team. Also returning are 2019 players Kaiser and Speed Fry who were on the West Command Team.
Monte Vista-Danville (Danville, California)
Twelve seniors graduate from a team that finished the year on a 22 game winning streak. All-EBAL First team selections, Chris Ryan and Carson Bull return.
Poway (California)
The Titans are the defending San Diego CIF Open champions after an 18-3 season. Poway finished the year with a seven game win streak. The San Diego Union-Tribune Player of the Year, Zach Hodge, graduated, but rising junior Kellan Cutting returns. All-Section team selection Chase Crawford also returns. Head Coach Zack Burke was the San Diego Union-Tribune Coach of the Year.
San Ramon Valley (Danville, California)
Defensemen Joey Carrington and Garrett Steffen return after earning All-EBAL First Team honors last season and helping the Wolves to a 12-9 record. Returning to the offense is rising junior Drew Erickson (First Team All-EBAL). Rising junior goalie Cole French earned Honorable Mention All-EBAL honors.
St. Ignatius College Prep (San Francisco, California)
As good as the Wildcats were in 2016 with wins over San Ramon Valley (California), Poway (California) and Bellarmine Prep (California), they could be better in 2017. Prep was led in scoring by six underclassmen, including leading scorer Patrick Brosnan. Bryn Evans (Harvard) led the team with 40 goals and added 10 assists. Junior Nicholas Clarke (Bucknell) led the team with 26 assists and added 17 goals. Junior face off man, Jonah Schieber won 162 face offs for a 55 percent win percentage.
Torrey Pines (San Diego, California)
The Falcons are coming off a 19-3 season and a San Diego CIF Open runner-up finish. Head coach Jono Zissi needs one win to capture 100 for his career. Since he took over in 2011, Zissi has not failed to lead Torrey Pines to fewer than 14 wins. The Falcons return two All-San Diego Section First Team selections: junior Brendan Egan and sophomore Spencer Grant. Six players from the Torrey Pines roster earned spots on the Under Armour West Underclass teams.
Underclassmen to Watch
This is not a recruiting list of top players, instead reflects some of the players who led or were among the team’s top scorers from last season and return in 2017.
A special thank you to the staff at MaxLaxLA and MaxLaxOC for helping me with some of the players and stats. Any errors or omissions are mine.
Nick Clarke, St. Ignatius College Prep, M, 2017, Bucknell
Clarke led the wildcats with 40 goals last season. He also led the team with 116 shots and was tied for second with 25 ground balls. Clarke is committed to Bucknell.
Nick Beeson, Poway, A, 2017, Bryant
Beeson led Poway with 45 points and 30 goals last season. The Bryant commit also had 15 assists, which was second on the team.
Patrick Brosnan, St. Ignatius College Prep, A, 2017, Bryant
Brosnan scored 29 goals and 24 assists last season, good for second on the team. He tied for second with 25 ground balls. The attackman is committed to Bryant.
Quentin Buchman, Santa Margarita Catholic (Rancho Santa Margarita, California),A, 2018, Bryant
Buchman earned Trinity League Offensive MVP honors as a sophomore after scoring 67 goals and dishing out 23 assists. He earned OCVarsity All-County First Team Honors as well. As a freshman, the Bryant commit had 35 goals and 22 assists.
Max Bulko, Oak Park (California), A, 2017
Bulko stepped it up during his junior year, totaling 66 points on 43 goals and 23 assists. As a sophomore, he had 21 goals and 17 assists in 21 games. For his varsity career, Bulko has 65 goals and 42 assists.
Joe Carrington, San Ramon Valley, D, 2017, North Carolina
Carrington helped a Wolves defense that held opponents to single-digits in goals 16 times last season. Carrington was a First Team All-EBAL selection last year.
Duke Cohen, Westlake (Westlake Village, California), A, 2018
Cohen tripled his goal output from his freshman to sophomore seasons, scoring 60 goals last year and adding 31 assists to his season total. Cohen led the team in points (91), goals (60) and assists (31) last season. The rising junior has 123 career points with 80 goals and 43 assists.
Nicholas DeMaio
Nicholas DeMaio, Coronado (California), 2017, A, Boston University
DeMaio already has 100 career assists after totaling 50 in each of his first two seasons. The rising junior has 176 career points and with two more seasons he could become one of California’s all-time leaders. The Boston University commit has been a Second Team All-City selection in addition to a 3d Blue Chip, Maverik Showtime and Denver Shootout All-Star.
Jack Elders, Redwood (Larkspur, California), A/M, 2017, Georgetown
Elders earned First Team All-Marin Catholic Athletic League honors last season. He was a First Team selection as a sophomore and an Honorable Mention as a freshman. Elders is in a for a big senior year, according to head coach Blake Atkins. In three seasons, the Georgetown commit has 121 goals and 71 assists.
Ellis Geis, Foothill-Santa Ana (Santa Ana, California), A, 2018, Denver
Geis has been a consistent performer in his first two varsity seasons. He improved upon his freshman year with 47 points on 33 goals and 14 assists last season. He had 31 goals and 12 assists as a freshman. The attackman earned a spot on the Under Armour West Highlight Division team over the summer.
Shayne Grant
Shayne Grant, Torrey Pines, M, 2018, Richmond
Grant is one of several Falcons who earned a spot on the Under Armour Underclass West Team, making the Highlight Division team. The Richmond commit has been listed among the impressive players at the Black Card, High Rollers All-Star Team and Adrenaline Invitational.
Rowan Hart, Davis (California), A, 2017, Holy Cross
Hart was a standout at the 2015 Adrenaline Elite and High School Standouts Showcase, listed among 3d Rising’s top players. The attackman helped the Blue Devils to a 15-4 record last season and paced an offense that scored at least 20 goals six times. He finished his junior year with 62 assists and 47 goals, surpassing his sophomore point total with 49 goals and 18 assists.
Jack Larkin, Palos Verdes (Palos Verdes Estates, California), A, 2017
Another player that helped Palos Verdes to a 19-3 record last season. Larkin totaled 38 points with 21 goals and 17 assists.
Austin Lowi, Palos Verdes, A, 2017, Jacksonville
The rising senior totaled 55 points last season on 32 assists and 23 goals. The Jacksonville commit totaled 47 points as a junior and 39 as a sophomore.
Cory Lund
Cory Lund, El Segundo (California), 2017, Williams College
Lund led the team with 113 points, 61 goals and 52 assists. He scored at least 10 points in four games, including three games with 12. Lund has 237 career points on 117 goals and 120 assists.
Ryder Mora, Loyola-Los Angeles (Los Angeles), M, 2017, Maryland
The son of UCLA head coach Jim Mora, Ryder helped the Cubs to the LA/Ventura and Southern CIF titles last season. Mora committed to the Terrapins as a sophomore – a season in which he had 41 ground balls, 20 goals and 12 assists.
Hank Ontiveros, Santa Fe Christian (Solana Beach, California), A, 2017
Ontiveros is coming off a 96 point junior season in which he helped Santa Fe Christian to the San Diego CIF I title. The attackman scored 78 goals, which included five of the team’s six in the section championship game. He was a San Diego Times Union All-Academic Team selection.
Lukas Roscoe, El Segundo, A, 2019
Just a freshman, Roscoe was third on the team with 30 goals last season. He made the most of his opportunities, taking just 43 shots. He also had eight assists, good for fifth on the team.
Marty Shargel, Agoura (Agoura Hills, California), A/M, 2017
Shargel totaled 63 goals in 17 games as a junior last season. Those totals were up from a sophomore season in which he scored 22 goals in 16 games. Shargel earned US Lacrosse All-American honors for his season.
T.J. Summers, Westview (San Diego, California), A, 2018
Summers finished his sophomore year with 39 goals and 36 assists for 75 points. He led the Palomar League in points and was named All-League. Summers finished the summer earning All-Star Game Honors at both the FLG Legit 120 on Long Island and at the Carolina Summer Shoot Out with his travel team, the Los Angeles Cobras.
Joe Theuer
Joe Theuer, Loyola-Los Angeles, G, 2017, Tufts
Theuer was the Team MVP in 2015 and earned US Lacrosse All-American status both as a sophomore and junior. The Tufts commit helped anchor a championship team that only allowed double-digits in goals four times last season. Theuer was one of several Cubs to earn a spot on the Under Armour Underclass West team.
Spencer Tyoran, Westlake, A, 2017
Tyoran was third on the team with 44 goals last year and will be the team’s second-leading returning scorer in 2017. The attackman totaled 57 points, behind Cohen and senior US Lacrosse All-American Brett Reilly.