Blog: Aliso Lacrosse Dominates Mission in Opener

The Aliso Niguel Boys Lacrosse team won their season opener against Mission Viejo 10-1 Friday night at Wolverine Stadium. 

Aliso Niguel (1-0), came out firing from the opening whistle. Senior Michael Traub scored just two minutes into the game to put the Wolverines up 1-0. Minutes later, senior defenseman Derek Zimmer stripped the ball and fed it to Nick Abdulla who scored a nice goal to go up 2-0. Aliso controlled the ball majority of the 1st quarter but Mission goalie Alex Perez made some nice saves to keep the Diablos in it. Turner Westlake and Jonah Rinaldi each put up a goal in the final two minutes to make it 4-0.

Just when everyone thought the quarter was over, junior Connor Reed picked up the ball off the faceoff, drove through three Diablo defenders and scored.

The ball was on the ground a lot in the second quarter and neither team was getting good looks at the goal. When a good look did come both goalies held their ground. Perez had six saves in the first half and Aliso goalie Austin Stahl had a shutout witht he Wolverines on top 6-0.

Both teams were more crisp in the third. Stevie Barron fed Nathan Smith, who cranked one past Perez from 12 yards out. The Aliso defense led by Senior Jordyn Williams was a brick wall in the third and Mission only got one shot on goal.

After two Aliso penalties, the Diablos finally got on the scoreboard with a goal by Jordan Bernardin. Things got a little heated in the fourth which led to a Diablo being ejected. Aliso had a man advantage for three minutes and Traub tacked on two more goals to make it 10-1. 

The Wolverines hope this win is a sign of good things to come this season. They have a lot of returning seniors especially on defense. Their next game is Tuesday at Woodbridge High School. Mission Viejo (0-3,0-1) will play their home opener against Mater Dei next Friday.

Mission Viejo Diablos

Ground Balls:

Hunter (3), Bernardin, Seiders, Jackson, Kuri (3), Corbo (2), Mohammadpour (3), Miyake, Finley, Innocenzi (2), Muhamed (2), Crystal

Assists:

Kuri

Goals:

Bernardin

Saves:

Perez (10)

Aliso Niguel Wolverines

Ground Balls:

Abdulla (4), Westlake (3), Williams (6), Maduryan, Zimmer (4), Cooper, Smith, Traub (4), Wollman (2), Reed (9), Rinaldi (2), Barron (2)

Assists:

Smith, Rinaldi (3), Barron

Goals:

Abdulla, Westlake, Reed, Smith, Traub (4), Rinaldi, Barron

Saves:

Stahl (5)