Boys lacrosse playoffs: Agoura's 14-game winning streak ends in Division 1 quarterfinals
The Agoura High boys lacrosse team was looking forward to its measuring stick matchup against the defending CIF-Southern Section Division 1 finalist.
Until visiting Santa Ana-Foothill showed the Marmonte League champion that it still has some ways to go.
Andrew McCarthy scored two goals and fellow seniors Jake East, Eli Russ and Aiden Della Ripa also found the net as host Agoura’s season came to an end, along with its 14-game winning streak, with a 13-5 loss in the Division I quarterfinals Friday.
Agoura (16-3) pushed Foothill for much of the first half.
McCarthy scored twice within the first five minutes as the Chargers jumped out to a 2-0 lead.
East found the net with 1:58 left in the first quarter as Agoura reclaimed the lead, 3-2.
“Started the game pretty well,” Agoura head coach Sean Lindsay said.
From there, the visitors from the south exposed the gulf that remains between the two programs.
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“With a team like Foothill, it's really not about offense or defense,” Lindsay said. “It's more about the little things in the middle of the field, faceoffs and the ability to clear the ball. We struggled at times with that, throwing it right away. A one-goal lead turns into three real quick when you play a team like that. That's why they're really good.
“We knew that going in. We tried our best but, unfortunately, we turned the ball over too many times.”
With Agoura struggling to clear the ball out of its own end, Foothill was able to dominate possession in the second and third quarters, scoring seven straight goals to build a 9-3 lead and hold the Chargers scoreless for a 25-minute span.
“I thought we just played a lot of defense,” Lindsay said. “We probably spent 80% of the game on (defense). Good teams, that's what they do. They know we have a good (offense). They're going to try to take it out of your hands. Hats off to Foothill.”
Russ’ goal with 23 seconds left in the third quarter ended the drought, but it was too late for the senior-laden Chargers to mount a comeback.
“Every time a freshman class comes in, we've talked to them about moving the program forward, pushing it forward,” Lindsay said. “I think those guys did that and more.
“We had a couple Orange County wins this year. We had a nice big playoff win, which we couldn't get last year. These seniors were great, all of them. … They did everything I asked of them.”
Division 2
Temecula Valley 17, Oak Park 8: On their second straight long road trip of the week, the Eagles gave 18-2 Temecula Valley a scare for a half.
Benen Powers and Eric Yeung scored the last two goals of the half to pull the Eagles within 7-6 at the break.
But Temecula Valley pulled away in the second half, despite four goals from Powers, two goals from Yeung and a goal apiece from Luke Piurkowsky and George Li.
Oak Park ends its season at 10-10.
Division 3
Vista Murrieta 11, Thacher 4: The Toads (9-4) saw their eight-game winning streak snapped in the quarterfinals
Joe Curley covers lacrosse for The Star. He can be reached at joe.curley@vcstar.com. Follow him @vcsjoecurley on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Boys lacrosse playoffs: Agoura's winning streak ends in quarterfinals
