The best season in the history of the West Ranch Wildcats boys’ lacrosse program came to an end on Saturday.
A hot start to Saturday’s CIF Southern Section Division 3 semifinal at Valencia High School saw the Wildcats claim multiple three-goal leads. But as the sun set at Dr. Paul A. Priesz Stadium, the Wildcats cooled down and the visiting Martin Luther King Wolves started howling at the moon.
When the final whistle blew, the Wolves’ bench scampered to its pack in the middle of the field to celebrate a 10-9 comeback victory and a trip to the championship game, while the Wildcats fell to their knees, shocked in defeat.
It was the last game for West Ranch (12-10) head coach Chris Taylor after four years in charge of the boys’ lacrosse program and 20 years overall as a coach across different sports — he was also a coach for the football team and pulled double duty in the spring as a coach for the track and field program — as he is retiring from coaching and his job as a campus supervisor at West Ranch High School.
“As a fan, this was an awesome game,” Taylor said. “As a coach, very heartbreaking, because I wanted to take this group as far as we could go.”
West Ranch senior Evan Brown ended the team’s postgame huddle by thanking his head coach throughout his high school career. Dozens more, including Leesa Chelminiak, the school’s girls’ lacrosse head coach, came down to the field to send Taylor off.
Saying “it’s a little tough right now” when thinking about the end of his coaching career, Taylor said he was grateful to have coached the lacrosse team after taking the head coaching job with no prior knowledge of the sport, only to fall in love with it.
“When I came to lacrosse, I gave up football because I fell in love with this,” Taylor said. “With that said, this is very tough. I’m saddened for all of the guys.”
West Ranch was up 4-2 after the first quarter on Saturday and then was up 8-5 with three minutes to play after junior Greyson Foster and senior Jonas Cantu scored back-to-back goals, the second of the game for each. But the Wildcats didn’t hit the back of the net again until just under five minutes to play in the final quarter, while the Wolves scored five unanswered goals in that time frame.
“Our turnovers were the difference in the game,” Taylor said. “This game shouldn’t have even been this close. We didn’t do a good job of possessing the ball. And I think that was the difference of the game. We allowed them to get back into the game and eventually take a lead … It’s on us. We let this slip through our fingers, but I believe they’ll grow from it and they’ll be a better team next year.”
King senior Kale Vanlierop recorded a game-high four goals, including the go-ahead goal a couple minutes into the fourth quarter to give the Wolves their first lead of the game. He also scored twice in the final two minutes of the first half to cut West Ranch’s lead to one going into the break.
Junior Nathan Breads doubled King’s lead with eight minutes to play in the final frame, a goal that ultimately ended up being the game-winner.
West Ranch junior Graden Choe was held scoreless after putting up 10 goals in the Wildcats’ first two playoff games.
Though the Wildcats’ season ended in heartbreaking fashion, the program became the first Foothill League lacrosse team to ever make a CIF semifinal — and what more history could have been made if not for the Wolves’ nighttime prowl.
“I hope we left a legacy that is respectable,” Taylor said. “That’s the best I can say, man. This is a hard one.”
