Sticking Close Together

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

The numbers ‘3’ and ‘9’ were the  most pertinent last Wednesday  in Woodland Hills, where Palisades  High’s boys and girls lacrosse teams  once again proved they are the best in the City. For a third straight year the Dolphins swept the finals, both winning by nine-goal margins, and claimed the school’s first section titles since the Palisades Fire.

In the nightcap, the boys outscored host El Camino Real 14-5 to seize their 10th championship, ninth in 10 years and fifth straight under head coach Dave Bucchino, who got rewarded with a bucket of ice water dumped over his head.

“This ranks top one or two for me since we didn’t expect to even have a season,” he said. “We practiced mostly at Brentwood School and kids were spread out so it was a matter of who’s going to show up, there was inconsistency but all they wanted to do was play.”         

Will Fishman had four goals, Gavin Zuniga and Dylan Wong each had two and Maddox Walker made eight saves for the top-seeded Dolphins, who made it six in a row over ECR in the finals.

“Our goal every year is to win City to keep the streak going, but this year the fire got us fired up,” said Fishman, a senior headed to Ohio State. “Half our players lost their homes but it’s a great way for me to go out… winning a championship with my best friends.”

The first game of the doubleheader saw Palisades’ girls cruise to a three-peat under head coach Dexter O’Connell with a 12-3 victory, also over ECR. Freshman middie Elexus Ray led the charge with nine goals, Emma Yoffe had two and Amanda Wexler scored off a rebound in the first quarter as the top-seeded Dolphins claimed their fourth title overall.    

“I was on today and my teammates were looking for me,” said Ray, who began playing the sport in kindergarten and who proved to be unstoppable in the postseason, netting 17 goals in two playoff contests to finish the spring with 113—a new school single-season record. “I was aiming for a lot of goals this season but I didn’t think I’d get over 100.”

Sarah Finestone made eight saves to up her season total to 145.

“For two whole quarters they didn’t put the ball in the goal and they only had it in our zone three times in the first half,” O’Connell said. “Our re-defending was tenacious. I feel lucky to be coaching this group. It brings me joy. I’ve tried to make Pali a fun place that the girls can come back to.

Both the boys and girls squads  have made the finals every year since the City sanctioned lacrosse playoffs in 2014. The girls lost to Birmingham five times in a row before breaking through in 2019, beating the Patriots in the finals. The 2020 season got canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.