Pali High Lacrosse Squads Sweep City

On Saturday, April 27, 2019, for the first time in program history, the Palisades High boys and girls lacrosse teams got to celebrate championships together on the same field. The girls took the field at El Camino Real High in Woodland Hills seeking their first City title against their nemesis Birmingham, which had defeated Palisades five times in the finals. This time would be different thanks to twin sisters Ally and Sammy Stahl, who two months earlier had helped the Dolphins win their first girls water polo title. Ally scored goal after goal in the first half as Palisades built a 10-3 lead early in the second half en route to a 10-6 triumph—the same score by which the Dolphins had lost to the Patriots in the 2018 finals. It was mission accomplished for first-year head coach Katlyne Duffey, who instilled in her girls belief that this was their year. “It feels incredible,” Ally Stahl said. “We waited so long for this and it finally happened. I’m going to look at this medal for awhile.” Then it was the boys’ turn and they did what they were expected to do by routing host El Camino Real 19-3 for their fourth straight City title and fifth in six years. Co-captain Jackson Demet led the way with eight goals, Alesandro Caso had three, Jack O’Rourke, Reicher Bergstein and Ethan Rubin each had two and Weston Rauschuber and Milo Sherman added one apiece as Palisades extended its dynasty. “This is the first group I’ve had since they were freshmen,” Coach Kevin Donovan said. “They’ve helped build this program. I can’t thank them enough for helping me set the foundation to build a first-rate program.”