Oak Park shows no signs of letting up
Eagles continue their domination of the Southern California Lacrosse Association
By Thomas Gase tgase@theacorn.com

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers TOP TEAM- Oak Park's Kyle Benton, left, runs past an Agoura defender during a game earlier this season. The Eagles remain undefeated in the Southern California Lacrosse Association.

Although Oak Park administrators may not recognize them as a team belonging to the high school just yet, others in the area are starting to see Oak Park's lacrosse club as the region's best.

While the team is trying to qualify for CIF status, Oak Park is currently ranked No. 1 in the California State Club Division and No. 4 overall in California with a record of 9-0. Last year the team went 15-1, losing its only game in the state championship to El Toro High.

This season Oak Park is looking to go undefeated.

"The loss from last year is on everybody's mind, but we try and keep a mentality of playing game by game and practice by practice," Oak Park head coach Michael McGovern said.

"Our philosophy is to always be mentally ready for every game. Physically we are a great team, but I try to inform them that any team can beat us and that we are only as good as our last game."

Senior co-captain Blair Bennett said the team realizes there is a lot of pressure that comes with having a high ranking in the state.

"It's a great honor having a high ranking, and we take a lot of pride in it, but at the same time it means we have a lot of responsibility," Bennett said. "Every team is out to get us now because we are so good. We have to work very hard and keep up our intensity in every game in order to maintain that high ranking."

So far Oak Park has done a good job preparing for every opponent, especially on offense.

McGovern's squad beat Thousand Oaks 16-0, Calabasas 13-4 and Agoura 18-6. Competing in the Southern California Lacrosse Association, the Eagle offense is averaging 13 goals per game.

Bennett said one of the reasons for the team's explosive offense is the fact that he and his senior co-captains Kyle Benton, Nick O' Bryen and Chad Costello have played together since they were in seventh grade.

"I have played sports with them all my life, and this year it's been great to lead the team with them," Bennett said. "It's great playing with them because it seems that we know each other's tendencies on the field. You can throw a no-look pass on this team because we seem to always know exactly where each other is going to be."

The offense is led by Benton, who's averaging 4.56 points a game. Junior Brett Zeola is second on the team with an average of 4.11 points. Bennett is contributing with 3.78 a game while O' Bryen is averaging 3.11 a game.

While the offense is clicking on all cylinders, the defense has been stellar as well.

The most goals Oak Park has allowed in a game this year is five, and the team has only given up an average of three goals per contest. One reason for the success of the defense is goalkeeper Chris DaCar.

DaCar, a junior who transferred to the team last year, has posted 86 saves for Oak Park.

"He is doing a phenomenal job and has really stepped up this year playing in goal," McGovern said about DaCar. "He shows a lot of composure in the cage and has been a great asset to our defense."

Also contributing on defense has been junior Cory Whelan and sophomores Matt Caspari and Eric Albers.

"These young players have really stepped up on defense for us," Bennett said. "One thing I love about this team is the younger players will work extra on the weekend and also call me up to see if I want to play. I've been really impressed with the drive on this team."

Other players making a difference for Oak Park are Jake Kraus, Max Luchs, Ryan Darling and Max Ball.

Oak Park continues its quest for an unbeaten season April 17 at home against Santa Barbara. The Eagles' home games are played at Newbury Park High.