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Girls Lacrosse Upsets No. 1 Foothill, Continues League Roll
Since the inception of girls lacrosse in Orange County at any level, Foothill has been among the elite of the elite teams in the sport. The Knights have won four consecutive Southern Section titles, including the first three under CIF-SS administration in the past three seasons, and hadn’t lost to any Southern Section competition since 2019. That was until last Friday, April 12, at San Clemente High.
San Clemente girls lacrosse team shutout Foothill in the first half and scored six first-half goals before holding off the Knights’ second-half charge and knocking off the No. 1 team in CIF-SS Division 1, 6-4.
Charlotte Yeskulsky, Sophia Yeskulsky and Taylor Juncaj each netted two goals for San Clemente, and Kayla Jones made six saves in the cage. Sophia Yeskulske also set the tone for San Clemente on the draws with seven draw controls on 13 attempts, while Foothill controlled just five draws.
It was the Tritons’ second win all-time over Foothill and their first since 2018. San Clemente lost twice to Foothill last season, including the CIF-SS Division 1 semifinals.
San Clemente (14-2, 5-0) moved up to No. 4 in the CIF-SS Division 1 poll, while Foothill remained in the No. 1 spot. This season, Foothill has beaten No. 2 Marlborough and No. 3 Redondo Union, which beat San Clemente in overtime in March.
The Tritons did not let up after their big upset victory with a 15-11 nonleague win over La Costa Canyon of Carlsbad on Monday, April 15.
San Clemente followed up back in South Coast League play with a 17-3 drubbing of Aliso Niguel on Tuesday, April 16.
The three-tie defending league champion Tritons have now won 31 league games in a row dating to April 16, 2019. The Tritons have outscored league opponents this season by a combined 57-goal margin, 83-26.
San Clemente can clinch its fourth consecutive South Coast League championship by the end of the week, as the Tritons play at Trabuco Hills on Thursday, April 18, and host El Toro on Friday, April 19. San Clemente closes the regular season next Wednesday, April 24, at San Juan Hills.
Boys Lacrosse Tightens Up League Standings
By avenging one of its two close first round league losses, the San Clemente boys lacrosse team has the potential to tie up the top of the South Coast League.
After Trabuco Hills moved into a tie for first place after beating league-leading Tesoro on Friday, April 12, San Clemente was able to keep its league championship hopes alive with a 13-8 win over Trabuco Hills on Tuesday, April 16.
Jack Bunker posted a team-high 10 points with three goals and seven assists, and Brady Fish led San Clemente with four goals. Trey Ghyzel scored three goals, and Miles Bonner netted two goals and collected two assists.
San Clemente (11-5, 2-2) lost to Trabuco Hills by one goal in the first round of league play, and the Tritons lost to Tesoro by two goals.
If San Clemente can win at Tesoro next Monday, April 22, and all three teams summarily defeat last-place Mission Viejo again, there will be a three-way tie for the South Coast League championship.
The Tritons close their regular season next Wednesday, April 17, at home against Mission Viejo.
Boys Track and Field Earns Second Place at Orange County Championships
While San Clemente wasn’t able to claim individual or team gold, the Triton boys did more than enough to earn a podium spot at the Orange County Track and Field Championships on Saturday, April 13, at Mission Viejo High School.
San Clemente claimed three second-place finishes and three third-place finishes to earn 51.25 team points and edge out Trabuco Hills’ 51 points for second place. Mater Dei won the boys county championship for the second straight year with 59 points.
Senior Taj Clark came the closest to victory for San Clemente in the boys 800-meter run, as Clark was beaten by two-hundredths of a second. Clark ran a 1:54.66 to the 1:54.64 of Foothill’s Jack Horrocks.
Senior Dexter Brice finished second in the pole vault with a clearance of 14 feet, 6 inches, which was one foot higher than third place. Ryan Leuenberger of Capistrano Valley won the event with a clearance of 15 feet.
Senior Andre Jones took second place in the triple jump with a mark of 45 feet even. Blythe Dahl of Villa Park won the event with a jump of 45 feet, 5 inches. Gunnar Dahl of Villa Park was third at 42 feet, 11 inches.
Winning the bronze medals for San Clemente was senior Brett Ephraim in the 1,600 meters (4:15.94), the 4x400-meter relay team (3:28.00) and senior Christian Stewart in the long jump with a personal-record mark of 21 feet, 10.5 inches.
South Coast League Finals are next Friday, April 26.
Boys Volleyball Clinches League Championship
San Clemente is back on top of the South Coast League boys volleyball totem pole.
The Tritons dropped just their second set of league play in a four-set win at Tesoro on Thursday, April 11, to clinch a share of the South Coast League championship, and San Clemente earned the outright title with a sweep at Trabuco Hills on Monday, April 15.
This is San Clemente’s first league championship since 2022, and the Tritons could win their first undefeated league championship with a win over Aliso Niguel in the regular season finale at home on Wednesday, April 17. Results were not available at press time.
CIF-SS playoff brackets come out this weekend, and No. 1 San Clemente will open as the top seed in the Division 3 playoffs next week.