While the Scotts Valley High School lacrosse team remains undefeated in league play at 4-0, the Falcons fell to Serra High School, 17-7, in nonleague play Tuesday, April 5, at Branciforte Middle School.
Serra’s combination of Sam Oliver and Mike Bertoldi proved too much for the Falcon defense as the tandem scored 13 of the Padres’ 17 goals. Oliver tallied six goals and added an assist, and Bertoldi scored seven.
The first four minutes were scoreless as both teams battled up and down the field, feeling each other out. Oliver scored the day’s first goal in the fifth minute of play, followed quickly by another Serra goal, putting the Padres (7-7) up 2-0.
Collin Corbella answered back for the Falcons, putting in a ground ball and seconds later, Falcon attacker Wesley Koenig added another score after charging down the field unchallenged and brought the score even, 2-2.
Oliver slipped in one more score with less than a minute left in the first quarter, and the score at the end of the first was a close 3-2.
“We didn’t know what to expect from them,” Oliver said. “We knew they were good and that we would have to move the ball around if we wanted to score.”
In the second quarter, the Padres started to click and added another five goals to Scotts Valley’s one — scored again by Koenig, who would finish the game with four goals and one assist. The score at half was 8-3, with the Padres on top.
The second half opened much like the first, with Oliver dumping in an open-net grounder, followed by a Bertoldi score on a three-way pass leaving the net open again.
Corbella again had an answer for the Falcons (7-4) with a charging score, followed by two more goals from Koenig that lifted the score to 10-6. The Falcons would not get any closer, however, as Serra pulled out all the stops and snapped in four unanswered goals.
Bradley McLarnon finally broke the scoreless streak for the Falcons, sneaking one in past the goalie off a Koenig assist.
But when the final whistle blew, the Padres had the game in the bag, winning 17-7.
“We really didn’t play as well as we could have,” Falcon coach Wes Koenig said. “This team is much better than we looked, but Serra is a talented team, and they came to play today and earned the win.”
The Falcons play next at 7 p.m. Friday, April 8, at Santa Cruz High.
