The April 3, 2020 announcement from the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) State Office officially brought the promising San Juan Hills Stallions Boys Lacrosse season to an early end, leaving players, coaches and fans alike disappointed and considering what could have been.  Off to what had been the program’s best start ever at 6-0 with a #5 ranking in the CIF-Southern Section Division 2 polls, the Stallions were preparing to take on the M L King Wolves, and just one week away from meeting their first Sea View League opponent.  Through the first six games of the season, San Juan Hills had outscored opponents 122-27, and had boasted an all-time high clear rate of 77.3%, and a faceoff win percentage of 70.8.

Head Coach Tim Reynolds summed up what made this team so special, "When you think about this team and season, what stands out the most?  This team was special in so many ways, they bought in after last season to the off-season strength and conditioning program and putting in the work to work on their stick skills, shooting and overall process to become the best player and team they could. I think about what we could have accomplished given the success we were having and the momentum we had building this season. We were hitting on all cylinders and the team was just enjoying competing and playing with and for each other! This was a team in all sense of the word, there were no individuals and they were out there for each other! We were 6-0 when the season ended, had 16 Scholar Athletes - 12 of them Seniors. This team in 6 games scored 122 goals (20G/Game Average) and only gave up 27 (64.1% Save Percentage), 283 Ground Balls (47.2GBs/Game Average) and a 100 Face-Off wins (70.8% Win Percentage). This team accomplished so much even though the season ended early. Proud of these young men!"

San Juan Hills had begun the season with wins over JSerra Catholic (23-7), Norco (16-1), Sage Hill (18-2), Northwood (22-12), Orange Lutheran (21-4), and El Toro (22-1), behind a formidable offensive unit and a talented defense.  With a roster that included 15 seniors, 2 juniors, and 9 sophomores, the Stallions were statistically well distributed with notable contributions from:

• Offense
  • Nick Lagestee (SR) – 33 goals, 3 assists, 12 ground balls
  • Jade Fischbeck (SR) – 22 goals, 11 assists, 27 ground balls
  • Carter Peszt (JR) – 22 goals, 5 assists, 18 ground balls
  • Josh Mastropaolo (SR) – 11 goals, 9 assists, 13 ground balls
  • Chris Matthews (SO) – 10 goals, 10 assists, 21 ground balls
  • Jayden Wells (SR) – 8 goals, 8 assists, 10 ground balls
  • Tyler Enright (SO) – 6 goals, 4 assists, 9 ground balls
  • Max Maver (SR) – 70 faceoff wins (66%), 37 ground balls
  • Noa Nelson (SO) – 30 faceoff wins (60%), 15 ground balls
• Defense
  • Brayden Reynolds (SO) – 43 saves (66.8 Save %)
  • Dylan Reynolds (SR) – 8 forced turnovers, 26 ground balls
  • Eli Gow (SO) – 12 forced turnovers, 13 ground balls
  • Cole Flippin (SO) – 5 forced turnovers, 23 ground balls

While the shortened season was especially sad for the seniors, the Stallions were nonetheless able to celebrate their successes via an end of season Zoom ceremony that highlighted several individual efforts:

• Stallion of the Year – Josh Mastropaolo (SR)
• Most Valuable Player – Jade Fischbeck (SR)
• Most Valuable Defensive Player – Dylan Reynolds (SR)
• Most Valuable Offensive Player – Nick Lagestee (SR)
• Most Improved Defensive Player – Eli Gow (SO)
• Most Improved Offensive Player – Tyler Enright (SO)

The Stallions excelled in the classroom as well as on the field, finishing 4th amongst all CIF-SS sports teams, with 16 members qualifying for Scholar-Athlete Awards:

• Tarik Assami (SR) – 4.83
• James “Tripp” Sanders (SR) – 4.6
• Iman Palizi (SR) – 4.60
• Tyler Enright (SO) – 4.57
• Noa Nelson (SO) – 4.60
• Trent Zabrocki (SR) – 4.40
• Riley Lafreniere (SO) – 4.33
• Cooper Kitaen (SR) – 4.20
• Dylan Reynolds (SR) – 4.00
• Max Maver (SR) – 4.00
• Slater Richey (SO) – 3.83
• Jayden Wells (SR) – 3.80
• Josh Mastropaolo (SR) – 3.80
• Matt Payne (SR) – 3.80
• Jade Fischbeck (SR) – 3.80
• Jake Traverso (SR) – 3.80