High school boys lacrosse roundup: Casa Grande stays on a roll

The Casa Grande boys' lacrosse team continued its dominance over the NBL on Tuesday night as the Gauchos rolled over Windsor 17-2 to remain undefeated in league play with one regular season contest remaining.

The host Gauchos (15-4, 9-0) easily handled the Jaguars, pushing the game out of reach by midway through the first half.

“Casa hasn't had a competitive game yet, at least not in our league,” Windsor coach Stuart Gentry said.

“They have speed, experience and depth. They move the ball around well.”

Windsor (5-12, 2-7) is still in position to qualify for the four-team NBL postseason tournament, depending on what happens in games later this week.

Even though the Jaguars were beaten handily on Tuesday, the outcome was an improvement over the 22-1 loss they suffered at home against the Gauchos on April 7.

“Tonight we played better than the first time we played them,” Gentry said. “Casa is athletic and their players have been playing lacrosse for a long time.”

The only drama for the Gauchos in their regular season finale on the road on Thursday versus second-place Rancho Cotate is whether they will finish undefeated in the NBL.

They have already clinched the top seed in the NBL post-season tournament.

Cardinal Newman 10, Petaluma 8

The struggling Cardinals (2-16, 2-6) registered an upset victory against third-place Petaluma (6-11, 4-5) in a game hosted by the Cardinals but played at Windsor because of field conditions at Cardinal Newman.

“I'm ecstatic, best game we have played all season,” Cardinal Newman coach Joel Holland said. “This is a big upset for us. It was sweet and against a high-quality opponent.”

Cardinal Newman, in last place going into the game, led by one or two goals most of the game, including 5-4 at halftime and 7-6 after three quarters. Eight of the 10 Cardinal goals game via assists.

“We did a great job distributing the ball, we had six guys in the scoring column,” Holland said. “We executed on passing and catching unlike we have all season. We played excellent on defense.”

Cardinal Newman was led by Tyler Facto on offense (four goals, three assists), Alex Urasaki on defensive, and by Phil Rago (12 saves) in the goalie box.

Petaluma was led by Isiah Blomgren (three goals, one assist), but he was relatively contained by Urasaki.

The Trojans finish the NBL season on Thursday at Sonoma Valley.

Cardinal Newman plays at Windsor on Thursday and hosts Rancho Cotate on Friday.

Rancho Cotate 16, Sonoma Academy 4

The host Cougars (12-4, 7-1), were led by Mason DePaola (four goals, four assists) in an easy victory over the Coyotes (4-11, 2-7).

The win keeps Rancho Cotate comfortably in second place in the NBL, while the loss drops Sonoma Academy in a last-place tie with Windsor.

Rancho Cotate led 10-2 at halftime and put the game away with a 6-1 goal advantage in the third quarter.

“Our fast break was the key tonight, we probably had seven or eight fast-break goals,” Rancho Cotate coach Tory Hotaling said. “Our defense played really well and created a lot of turnovers. We got a lot of good open shots.”

Cougars goalie Kobi Buckley had nine saves and Tyler Cox added four goals and one assist on offense.

Sebastian McCullough led the Coyotes with three goals.