A historic run to the CIF-SS Division 3 semifinals by the Dos Pueblos boys’ lacrosse team came to a heartbreaking end on Wednesday at Scott O’Leary Stadium following a 12-10 loss to Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.
After an undefeated run through Channel League play, the Chargers defeated Brentwood 18-7 in the opening round and University 14-7 in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals.
“My favorite thing about this team is how they played for each other. This team is so close knit and everyone just lifts each other up,” said Dos Pueblos coach Todd Garrett. “The guys work so hard everyday in practice, in games, not for coaches, not for themselves, but for their teammates.”
The Chargers built up a 10-6 lead late in the third quarter and appeared poised to advance to the CIF Championship Game, but visiting Sherman Oaks Notre Dame closed the contest on a 6-0 run, holding the Chargers scoreless in the fourth quarter to secure the victory.
“I think the first three quarters we played our game really well. We won faceoffs, we possessed the ball really well and we dominated time of possession. Garrett said. “In the fourth quarter we had too many mental mistakes. We turned the ball over too much and gave the other team too many opportunities.”
After Sherman Oaks Notre Dame jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead following a goal by Dustin Penchansky with 9:40 remaining in the first quarter, Dos Pueblos responded with a goal eight seconds later by Daniel Finneran that shifted momentum as it sparked a 6-0 run by the Chargers.
Chase Carlson capped of the Chargers’ surge with a goal that came with less than one second remaining in the first quarter to give Dos Pueblos a 6-2 lead.The visiting Knights clawed back in the second quarter cutting their deficit to 7-5 on another goal by Penchansky with 1:22 remaining in the first half.
However, Dos Pueblos swiped away momentum just before the break with a goal by Jack Finneran with 4.9 second remaining, increasing the Chargers’ lead 8-5 at halftime.
Orion Prewarski opened the second half scoring with a goal at the 9:16 mark of the third quarter to put Dos PUeblos ahead 9-5, After a Sherman Oaks Notre Dame goal cut the Dos Pueblos lead to 9-6 Gus Miller scored to put the Chargers ahead 10-6 at the 4:43 mark of the third quarter.
From there the Dos Pueblos offense dried up and the Knight cut their deficit to 10-7 on a goal by Penchansky with 1:30 remaining in the third quarter.
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame went on to dominate the fourth quarter with five unanswered goals punching its ticket to the CIF-SS Division 3 Championship Game in the process.
Danny Perez was a standout in goal for Dos Pueblos as he kept the Chargers in the game with 17 saves.