Vista boys' lacrosse ready to make playoff run

It's been another fine season for the Vista del Lago varsity boys' lacrosse team. The Eagles have won the Capital Valley Conference for the third straight season, losing only one game to Bella Vista. In fact, the Eagles, 14-4 overall, have only lost to Bella Vista, Whitney, Jesuit and Saint Francis. "We expected to win the league," Vista head coach Evan Morrison said. "Our loss to Bella Vista was our first league loss in a couple of years. "The strength of our team is definitely defense. We've got a good goaltender in senior Mason Higgins and a big bruiser defender is Becker Niklewski, who's committed to Westminster next year. Andrew Voorhees and Marcel Parks-Cutigni are two athletic poles and Colin Kersey and Jamie Moore are two short-stick defensive midfielders who are very good at what they do." Another strong defender is Bennett Sackmann, who is currently injured and Morrison is unsure if he can make a return for the playoffs. Because of his skill level, Sackmann is someone Morrison can put anywhere on the field and he will excel. Vista's team captains are Sackmann, Higgins, Niklewski and Jake Farfan, the team's leading scorer with 53 goals, 15 assists and 68 points. The team's other leading scorers include Bryce Cowan (42 points), Nathan Wright (32 points), Luke Larson (28 points), Sackmann (21 points), Grant Niklewski (19 points) and Joey Porter (18 points). "Jake is the quarterback of our offense and he holds guys accountable," Morrison said. "He's very much the person who calls things out. He's got a high lacrosse IQ and can pretty much dodge anywhere on the field. Our other top offensive guy is Nathan Wright." Vista opened the playoffs at home on Tuesday against Del Oro and won 11-7. Farfan led the way with five goals. Larson scored three goals, while Grant Niklewski, Cowan and Becker Niklewski also scored. Vista will travel to No. 2 seed Jesuit on Thursday. Vista played Jesuit in their first game of the season and lost, 9-7. "I'm interested to see how much we've learned since our first game of the season, " Morrison said.