Dolphins Reign Supreme

Boys Rout El Camino Real for Fifth Straight City Lacrosse Crown after Girls Fall in

Finals

The dynasty continued for the Palisades High boys lacrosse team last Wednesday and there seems no end in sight after a 21-1 rout of El Camino Real—the most lopsided margin in City finals history. Palisades’ Axel Greve scored 47 seconds into the contest, Ethan Rubin tallied 32 seconds later and the Dolphins were off and running to their fifth straight section crown and sixth of the last seven (there was no City final last season due to the COVID-19 outbreak).

For first-year coach David Bucchino, who was born and raised on the East Coast and coached in New Jersey for eight years prior to moving to California, it was the opportunity of a lifetime: “The support from the parents has been amazing. I plan on coming back next spring and I’m looking forward to continuing our success. Coaching these boys this year has been an honor. All of them bought in and respect the culture I’ve created. I couldn’t ask for a better group of kids. Winning CIF was amazing for us. The team put in a lot of hard work and it paid off.”

Palisades led 7-0 by the end of the first quarter and 16-0 by halftime, as eight different players got goals. The only drama was whether goalie Orion Faucher would post the first shutout in the finals, but his bid ended with 1:15 left in the fourth quarter when ECR’s Noah Liebowitz scored on a man-advantage. The Dolphins beat the same team 19-3 in the finals in 2019.  

Before the boys extended their title streak, the Pali High girls attempted to defend the crown they finally captured two years ago against Birmingham.

Palisades, playing in its seventh consecutive final fell behind El Camino Real 7-4 at halftime but pulled even on a goal by Emme Silberberg with 17:39 left before falling 11-9 at Stadium by the Sea. Said rookie coach Jamie Wand: “The rewarding aspect was seeing the girls playing after not being able to for so long.”