
With a 15-6 victory over Patrick Henry High during its final home game of the season, the La Jolla High School (LJHS) lacrosse Vikings assured themselves the best record in the program’s history. Last week’s rout of the Patriots brings the Vikes to 13-3 overall, with two games remaining, including a final match-up with the number one team in the state, the Coronado Islanders, at Coronado this Friday. Following school tradition, the final home contest at Edwards Stadium included a pre-game salute to the team’s nine graduating seniors, accompanied on the field by their families. In post-game festivities, players and fans celebrated head coach Matt Rosenberg’s 100th lacrosse win (over 10 years) with a Gatorade dousing and standing ovation. Assistant coaches Todd McFarlane and Garrett Stanwick presented Rosenberg, an LJHS history teacher, with Champagne and 100 diapers to honor the wins and the upcoming birth of his (and wife Kathy’s) first child, due later this month. In avenging an earlier last-minute loss to the Patriots, junior Mike Soumekh scored three goals and seven assists for a game high of 10 points. Soumekh is now the leading scorer among San Diego County high school lacrosse squads. Sophomore attackman Matt Ohara scored the first three goals of the game, adding two later goals and three assists. Junior Taylor Bourgeois racked up two goals and three assists, making him the second leading scorer in the county with 40 goals on the season. Midfielder Jordan Dyer contributed two goals, while Kitt Livingston, Leo Breuggeman and Will Peterson each netted one. Goalie James Cochrane had ten saves against the Patriots. “This was a nice solid game from everybody,” said Rosenberg, “a real team effort to do things right.” Glenn Bourgeois, president of the La Jolla Lacrosse Foundation, said, “We are all grateful to Matt Rosenberg for his 15 years of working with local boys on La Jolla lacrosse teams; we all congratulate him on achieving that 100-win milestone.” The foundation, created four years ago, has spearheaded the growth of the sport at all levels in La Jolla, with the Vikings now the No. 6 ranked team in the county. “We also want to thank Todd MacFarlane who, in his second year of coaching La Jolla, has built one of the more prolific offenses ever, and newcomer Garrett Stanwick, who joined us this year,” Glenn Bourgeois said. All three coaches noted the strength of the middle school ranks coming up and the quality of the Vikings’ returning players — big Soumekh with 50 goals, junior captain Taylor Bourgeois with 40 and sophomore sensation Ohara, who’s inching closer to that dynamic attack duo, with 31 goals on the season. Graduating senior players honored by the La Jolla Lacrosse Foundation, with their college destinations this fall, are: Michael McNally (Furman University); Casimir Morawski (Sonoma State); William “Kitt” Livingston (Texas Christian University); Jordan Dyer (UC Santa Barbara); Thomas Bowman (University of Washington); Eduardo Vega (SDSU); Ben Fremont (University of Arizona); Chris Cox (SDSU, deferred for a year of world travel); and Joseph Matibag (University of Colorado, Boulder).