Tartans Top El Toro in Second Overtime in Lacrosse Semifinal

St. Margaret’s and El Toro have been two of the toughest defensive teams all season, so it was no surprise in Saturday’s playoff semifinal to see neither team score more than two goals over each 12-minute period.

Both teams laid everything they had on the Thalassa Stadium artificial turf, and both teams had their chances for victory in the final minutes. But in the end, it was an open shot by junior Kent Iizuka with 31 seconds gone in the second overtime that enabled St. Margaret’s to pull out an emotional, heart-stopping 7-6 victory and advance to the Orange County final of the US Lacrosse Southern Section Championships.

“It was the exact game I thought it would be,” said a teary-eyed Adam Guy, the Chargers coach, after nearly 53 minutes of back-and-forth action. “[St. Margaret’s] has an excellent team and I respect them more than anybody. They got the goal, but it just as easily could have been us. Good luck to them.”

The second-seeded Tartans (14-2) return to the Orange County final for the first time since 2008. They will face a familiar foe in top-seeded Foothill, the four-time Southern Section champion. St. Margaret’s lost to the Knights in its last finals appearance, as well as this season in a mid-March regular-season game.

“They are a great program with great athletes,” Tartans coach Gerry Manning said. “We always expect to see them [in the final]. We just have to win the chess match.”

While St. Margaret’s justifiably deserves to be there, it just as easy could have been the third-seeded Chargers (15-3) going to the title game.

El Toro went in front for the third time with 2:11 remaining in the game on an unassisted goal by attacker Chris Snarr to lead 6-5. The Chargers got the draw but could not hold onto the ball after a minute as the Tartans knocked it loose and called timeout to set up a play. The strategy worked as freshman Josh Davis whipped a ball into the net to tie the score with 1:00 remaining.

In the first four-minute overtime, the Chargers had a golden opportunity to end the game as Tartans goalie Brandon Suchand stopped one shot but was out of position as the ball rolled to another Chargers player, who picked it up and shot at a wide-open net. But Suchand quickly dove to his right and got his stick on the ball to deny the Chargers and keep the score knotted at sixes.

“We had the open net and [Suchand] just got a stick on it,” Guy lamented.

In the second overtime, St. Margaret’s got the draw and the ball went from Matt Duenes to Davis to James Murayama to Iizuka in 30 seconds. Iizuka calmly put the ball into the lower corner of the net, setting off a wild celebration by the Tartans. 

“Things happened so fast. I was just in front of the net, got the pass and scored,” said the 5-foot-7 Iizuka, who was among the leading scorers for the Tartans this season. “I was really excited. I’m looking forward to the next game.”

St. Margaret’s victory offset a sensational performance by Chargers goalie Chris Laurino. The senior faced an incredible 51 shots and made 16 saves, including one in his mask. Laurino stoned the Tartans several times with one-on-one saves that left St. Margaret’s shooters frustrated time and again.

“He’s been a wall for us all year. He did a fantastic job,” Guy said of Laurino. “If he isn’t an All-CIF goalie this year, then I don’t know who is.”

Manning was also impressed with the Chargers' goalie.

“Their goalie was on fire. He just worked it,” Manning said. “We shoot a lot in practice and obviously we were getting our shots. We were very frustrated.”

Iizuka and Alex Waller scored twice for the Tartans, with Waller’s second goal tying the score at 5-5 with 5:04 left in the game. Duenes had a goal and two assists.

El Toro’s offense was led by junior Jared Ferrell, who scored three goals through the second and third quarters, and senior Jake Johnson with two goals.

US Lacrosse Southern Section Orange County Championship Schedule:

Boys Division 1 -- No. 1 Foothill vs. No. 2 St. Margaret's at Mission Viejo High, Wednesday, May 11, 7 p.m.

Girls Division 1 – No. 2 Los Alamitos vs. No. 5 Santa Margarita at Mission Viejo High, Wednesday, May 11, 4:30 p.m.

Boys Division 2 -- No. 1 Mission Viejo vs. No. 3 Dana Hills at Aliso Niguel High, Thursday, May 12, 7 p.m.

Girls Division 2 -- No. 1 Capistrano Valley vs. No. 3 St. Margaret's at Aliso Niguel High, Thursday, May 12, 5 p.m.