Norco defeats Temecula Valley to win D3 crown
TEMECULA » Norco boys lacrosse coach David Antczak could sense Cody Warchuck getting frustrated.
Antczak signaled to Warchuck to relax, and It didn’t take long for Warchuck to find that finishing touch.
Warchuck scored six goals, half of those coming in the final quarter, as Norco defeated Temecula Valley 11-7 in the CIF Southern Section’s Division 3 championship match, the first boys lacrosse final in section history.
“I knew I had to step things up tonight... for all of my teammates, this program and our town,” Warchuck said.
Temecula Valley (12-7) beat the Cougars in a nonleague match earlier in the season, but many of Norco’s top players were in the midst of the football season. Norco started the season 4-5 but went undefeated when the roster was at full strength.
Warchuck, Skylar Frew and Carson Irvin — all football players, too — combined to score all 11 of Norco’s goals Monday.
“It was a little rough at the beginning,” Antczak said about the weeks playing shorthanded. “It took 3 or 4 games for them to get their sticks in tune.”
Temecula Valley coach Chuck Assumma knew his team would be facing a different Norco squad Monday.
“We had to come up with a new game plan, but we had a strategy of who we wanted to be defending their top players,” Assumma said. “We wanted to do everything we could to mitigate their attack and slow down their offense.”
And it worked early, as the Golden Bears held Norco (16-5) to a single goal in the first 15 minutes of the match. Temecula Valley senior goalie Evan Renzy was spectacular in the cage, registering five saves in the first quarter. Bryce Lippen and Anthony Bonaventura each scored a goal to help give the Bears a 2-1 lead after the opening period.
Irvin scored his second goal to level the score, and Warchuck scored twice to help Norco take a 4-3 halftime lead.