Centaurs Lacrosse Stays Hot in League

Two games into the South Bay League schedule, the Culver City High School boys lacrosse team is looking like a juggernaut. Of course, it is premature to crown the Centaurs champions just yet, especially with key matchups against Palos Verdes and Mira Costa looming, but Coach Casey Chabola likes what he sees so far.

As they did in their league opener against archrival Beverly Hills, the Centaurs scored early and often Wednesday against Palos Verdes Peninsula, building an 8-2 lead by halftime en route to their 9-3 victory. The pace slowed in the final two quarters, with each team scoring only one goal.

"With the number of seniors we have we have high expectations, so even when we win we're still getting on them about doing the little things right so we can get where we want to be, which is at the top of the league," Chabola said. "We didn't control the ball as well in the second half. We've just to get the ball off the ground and take our time on offense. When we do that. we're very hard to stop."

Logan Young played another solid game in goal for the Centaurs, stopping 22 of 25 shots. Cody Bergstrom, Mason Uemura and Lorenzo Nunziati each scored for the visiting Panthers, who were called for eight penalties.

"A lot of it was penalties, ww weren't playing with our heads and little things like that," said senior Stacy Sanker. "This was a track meet because we kept turning over the ball. It's the same thing that happened on Friday night when we lost to Loyola. We need to focus on stick control and hold onto the ball more on offense. We have a lot of experience and a lot of athleticism. We feel this team will be one of Culver City's best ever."   

Derek Owings once again led Culver City's attack with four goals, giving him a team-best 19 this season. "In the second half we just didn't pick up the ball as much as we should have," he said.

Peninsula Coach Austin Silva thinks his team waits too long to start playing.

"Unfortunately, all season long we've been that team of two halves," Silva said. "We'll play the first half really sloppy and dig ourselves a big hole. Culver City's tough, they're really athletic, they know how to run and they know how to find the open man, so they caught us off guard a couple times defensively."

The Centaurs finished third in league last season behind Mira Costa and Palos Verdes. Culver City can show how much it has improved when it hosts the Sea Kings on March 16 at Helms Field.

"There were a lot of penalties in the second half and we didn't possess the ball at all," freshman Elliot Stanger said. "It was more mental mistakes on our part. In the first half we came out pretty strong but in the second half we might have played down to their level, which is not okay."

Score by Quarters

1

2

3

4

Final

Peninsula

1

1

0

3

5

1

0

9