It’s all coming together at the right time for Oaks Christian boys lacrosse.
Junior Chase McCleod had four goals and three assists, junior Greg Degroote had four goals and two assists and junior Trent Malan won 75% of his faceoffs as the host Lions stopped red-hot league foe Newbury Park, 11-3, in the CIF-Southern Section Division 3 quarterfinals Wednesday night at Thorson Stadium.
“A lot of people said it’s hard to beat a team three times,” said Oaks Christian coach Sean Lindsay.
Oaks Christian had won the teams’ two Marmonte League matchups 10-9 in overtime on March 6 and 10-7 on March 25 and Newbury Park entered the game riding a 10-game winning streak, including the April 17 upset of league champion Westlake.
“Newbury (Park) won a lot of games in a row,” Lindsay said. “They had a big win and they were really playing with a lot of emotion… I felt like we had a really good game plan.”
Riding McCleod offensively, the Lions led 2-1 after the first quarter and built a 6-2 halftime lead.
“He’s been unbelievable all year,” Lindsay said.
After pushing the advantage out to 11-3 after three quarters, they were able to maintain possession in the fourth quarter.
“Mostly, we just came out flat,” said Newbury Park coach Dan Podesta. “Once you go down to a team like that, they can just hold the ball and it makes it really tough to come back.”
Tylar Jimenez had two goals and George Hees had a goal for Newbury Park, which ends its season 14-8.
With their best season in about a decade, the Panthers have built some momentum for the program going forward.
“It’s hard to see it that way now,” Podesta said, “but we generated a lot of excitement for the program. Hopefully that will carry into next season.”
Oaks Christian (9-6) advances to play Placentia-El Dorado High (14-7), which beat Culver City in its semifinal 12-9, in the Division 3 semifinals Saturday at Placentia-Valencia High.
It’s the third straight sectional semifinal for Oaks Christian.
“Now we’ve just got to win two more,” Lindsay said.
Riverside-King 7, Agoura 6
After falling behind 4-0 early, the Chargers threatened to climb out of the hole in the Division 3 quarterfinals on the road.
Trailing by a goal in the final two minutes, Agoura couldn’t cash in a pair of possessions to tie the game and force overtime.
“We had a late rally,” said Agoura coach Matt Horowitz. “The kids just kept fighting the entire game. We had two good opportunities at the end of the game to tie it up.
“We’re a very young team. That’s what happens, unfortunately.”
The game was a rematch of last year’s Division 3 final, won by King, 14-8.
Faceoff specialist Dom Khatchatourian won 11 of 15 faceoffs to keep the Chargers in possession.
Baxter Banks had two goals and an assist, Micheal Zeman had two goals and Calvin Petkus and Bronson Gavia had a goal apiece for Agoura, which ends its season at 11-8.
“I’m disappointed in the outcome,” Horowitz said. “I wish we would have played better in the first half… But we return a lot of guys next year, which is very exciting.”
Joe Curley covers lacrosse for The Star. He can be reached at joe.curley@vcstar.com. For more coverage, follow @vcspreps on Twitter/X, Instagram/Threads, Facebook, Bluesky and TikTok.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Oaks Christian boys lacrosse earns third straight CIF-SS semis berth
Reporting by Joe Curley, Ventura County Star / Ventura County Star
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