Coming into this season, expectations were low for boys’ lacrosse. After a difficult 2024 campaign and the loss of seven seniors, the team seemed to be heading for another losing season, which would have been their fourth in a row.
Now, four months later, the Panthers’ season has been anything but a failure. In fact, this year’s team became the most successful in the history of the program, putting together a record 0.750 win percentage and hosting a Central Coast Section (CCS) playoff game for the first time in nine years.
The Panthers’ season culminated in the first round of CCS playoffs, where they faced off against Archbishop Mitty High School on Monday, May 12. The game remained low-scoring throughout the first half, coming into halftime with the Panthers trailing 3-1. However, early in the third quarter, the game broke open offensively thanks to goals from junior attacker Rowan Maher and senior midfielder Henry Bradley, among others. The contest couldn’t be decided in regulation, remaining in an 8-8 deadlock before Mitty scored an overtime winner, ending the Panthers’ season prematurely.
“It was really a disappointing loss. We made a big comeback, but at the end of the day, it wasn’t enough,” junior midfielder Ravi Krishnan said.
Despite the loss, Krishnan is proud of the team’s season and honored to have hosted a CCS playoff game.
“It’s been nine years, a long time, it’s part of history,” Krishnan said. “It really means so much to me that I was able to be a part of that, and I think the whole team, everybody’s really happy that we were able to accomplish this.”
Junior midfielder Jack Clarke attributed a large part of the Panthers’ success to the leadership of new head coach Duncan Grenier and assistant coach John Emig.
“Coaching this year was phenomenal. Having Duncan and Emig there was great leadership, and [they] built us as players, not just as lacrosse athletes, but also in school and outside,” Clarke said.
Even with the loss of some key seniors, including Bradley, Clarke said they can replicate some of this year’s success next season.
“I feel really confident for our team next year, to be honest,” Clarke said. “… we can definitely develop our team over the summer, I know a lot of the guys, including myself, are doing club and developing and tuning our skills.”
