Vista sweeps Folsom in 'Crossetown Cup'

Rainy weather might have kept some people away, but the Vista del Lago and Folsom high lacrosse programs still had a decent turnout Saturday in the third annual "Crossetown Cup." As the more established program, Vista won all four games on the day and many of them easily, but next year and the years to come the games figure to be closer. Another purpose of the day was to be a fundraiser for both programs and with food vendors and raffle prizes, the day certainly achieved its goals. The games began at 1 p.m. with the junior varsity girls' teams playing one another, and it turned out to be the closest game of the day with Vista winning, 10-7, after trailing 5-4 at halftime. Apurva Moola, Addison Jones and Isabella Curcio each scored three goals for the Eagles, while Alisa Yu scored the other. Nazz Morgan played in goal for the Eagles. "Both teams battled today under tough playing conditions," Vista coach Dave Nazworth said. "We were actually down one at half, but went on a really good run in the third and held on for a hard-fought win. "The event itself is a great tradition that I hope continues for a long time. I'm fortunate to have coached players on both teams back in junior ball, and it's fun to see them now competing against each other for their respective high schools." Maddy Ball scored three goals for the Bulldogs, while Alena Mann scored two and Hayley Olson and Annika Nelson also scored. Grace Ryan was in goal for the Bulldogs. "It was awesome," Folsom coach Siri Robinson said. "I'm super proud of our girls. I think they've showed a lot of growth since the beginning of the season and played really great as a team. They worked on all the things we've been working on. I'm really proud. I think it was one of their best games. I think the whole event is great. It's fun competition, lots of great spirits and positive attitudes. I think It's really fun." The junior varsity girls' game was followed by the varsity girls' game, which Vista won 11-2. Hayden Crowley-Brunt led the Eagles with three goals, while Isabella Acosta, Shaye Aland and Alexa Nobis all scored two. Madeline Elmhurst and Maxine Yu also scored goals, while Katherine Smith played in goal. "It's the third annual Crossetown and the goal is to be a big fundraiser, but to also promote the game and continue to grow it and support the Folsom program which began three years ago," Vista coach Jordyn Sacks said. "We love competing against them and seeing how much they grow each year. It's a fun even to bring the community together around lacrosse. "The rain definitely played a factor, but ultimately we were able to work on the goals that we set at beginning of the game, which were to get ball movement, make sure all working together on defense, on our slides, talking and communicating, so I feel like we were able to pull all that together." Folsom scored two goals, the first of the game by Vivian Hermansen and the other by Alley Overmyer. The team's two keepers were Kaitlyn Tran and Hailey Steele. "Obviously, it's a great event, and it's great to be a part of this for another year," Folsom coach Corey Kazinec said. "The weather was a little nutty but it was fun. Great job by Vista; their keeper made some amazing saves. We did OK. We started off strong, but that's been our thing, we haven't been able to find those middle quarters. We haven't played a full game yet and when we do I'll be happy to see it." Next up was the junior varsity boys' game, again won by Vista, 15-4. Landon Johnson was the high scorer on the day with five goals. Tommy McLaughlin and Nathan Wright both scored three. Wesley Martin scored twice, while Joe Woods and Colin Kersey scored one goal. Will Barbin was in goal for the Eagles. "It stinks that it was raining, but it's still a great event and I love having it," Vista coach Domenic Leonido said. "It's great to see all the smiling faces out here. As for the game, we came out flat in first quarter, but in the second and third quarters, we played our offense and had good ball movement. Landon really got things going. If we can just start our games faster in the first quarter it would be a lot better. "The Folsom team, I love what they're doing. They played hard and did a really good job. The sky is the limit for both teams." For the Bulldogs, keeper Nico Esteves scored the game's first goal before Vista rattled off 11 in a row. Alex Reed, Antonio Esteves and Vista's goalie scored the other three goals for the Bulldogs. Niko Esteves played most of the game in goal, while Matthew Gorajewski also saw time in goal. "It's a great event hampered a little bit by the weather," Folsom junior varsity coach Garret Slater said. "It's great for the youth. It's all about getting the youth to see lacrosse played at the highest level and getting them to come support the high school programs and see how much the game has grown in Folsom. The JV game was great. It was much more competitive than it was last season and that show by how much Vista and myself had to go into timeouts and go into strategy to make sure they held on to their lead and we didn't creep back up. I'm happy with the effort and result in year two with an official junior varsity and varsity squad here and I'm looking forward to next year's game." The varsity boys' game ended the evening, a game won by the Eagles, 20-3. Max Vota scored four goals; Zach Bailiff added three while Owen Pettus, Jake Farfan, Isaac Lee and Bryce Cowan each scored two goals. The team's other five goals were scored by Alex Grant, Lucas Hromanik, Lincoln Zackney, Blake Wise and Camden King. Anthony Leonardi and Mason Higgins both saw time in goal. "We played better in the second half," Vista coach Mike Messersmith said. "We were sloppy with it early. We're trying to get ready for the playoffs and trying to improve every game. We did some good things toward the end. You never know with the weather conditions and how the kids will react to playing Folsom. It doesn't' feel like a rivalry game yet but it will get there. "I'm disappointed in the weather, as it probably cost us some attendance. I think it's fun and a good event. It's a little one-sided right now, but that will change. Folsom has a good group of freshmen coming in next year. We want to continue to do well. We're going to enjoy it while we can because it's not always going to be advantage us, that's for sure." Folsom managed three goals by Max Matalucci, Jake Read and Austin Fagen, who also played in net for the Bulldogs. "I liked the first quarter," Slater said. "It was 0-0 for quite awhile and even at the end of the quarter it was only 4-0, still a tight game. For a section championship playing team from last season and it seemed like they left their starters in the whole game, so for us to put back three and for them to only reach 20, for a top-10 team in the state, that's pretty fantastic for a second year of our varsity program. I like the way we played. We played physical. Even though the score was still going the opposite direction, we never lost gas. We were without some of our midfielders and we were tired, but we still played hard no matter what."