The Stallions opened their 2020 season in impressive fashion at home on Wednesday evening against the JSerra Lions, posting a 23-7 victory.  The Lions scored first following an emotional Stallions pre-game tribute to former player Michael Gonzalez (’17), who lost his battle to cancer on December 30th, but the Stallions regained their composure and answered with 3 straight goals that set the tone for the remainder of the game.

San Juan Hills controlled the ball throughout, allowing only 22 JSerra shots in total, while tallying an impressive 12 takeaways and 3 interceptions.  The Stallions’ young defense, anchored by sophomore goalie Brayden Reynolds (7 saves, 2 ground balls), with senior captain Dylan Reynolds (3 ground balls, 2 takeaways), and sophomores Cole Flippin (2 ground balls) and Eli Gow (1 ground ball, 1 takeaway) proved hard to dodge for quality shots.

Offensively the Stallions were paced by senior midfielders Jade Fischbeck (6 goals) and Josh Mastropaolo (5 goals, 1 assist).  Senior Nick Lagestee (4 goals, 1 assist) and junior Carter Peszt (4 goals, 2 assists) each added their efforts to overpower the Lions defense, while senior Jayden Wells (2 goals) along with sophomores Chris Matthews (1 goal, 1 assist) and Tyler Enright (1 goal) rounded out the scoring.  Senior Max Maver and sophomore Noa Nelson combined to win 60.6% of the face offs with 9 and 11 FOW respectively.

The Stallions look to build on their early-season success on Saturday when they travel to Norco High School for a 5:00 PM game.   The Cougars also enter the game with a 1-0 record following a 12-5 win over Capistrano Valley.  Norco is led by senior Adam Burks (33 goals, 18 assists, 64 ground balls in 2019), and junior Skylar Frew (26 goals, 19 assists, 71 ground balls, 131 face off wins in 2019).