Tre Murphy’s offense was a key factor in Miramonte’s late-season surge.
When the Miramonte boys’ lacrosse team headed off to spring break, the Mats’ record was 3-7.
Seven weeks later, they were North Coast Section (NCS) champions.
The dramatic turnaround did not involve a magic wand or a genie emerging from a lamp, but something much more prosaic. Health.
“At one point, we had six of our 10 starters injured,” said co-coach Tom Duffy. “Derek Youn, the unquestionable team leader, sprained his ankle in the last practice before our first game, and missed the next seven. On top of that, Sam Gugel, one of our top defenders, was recovering from offseason surgery.”
In addition, offensive MVP Tre Murphy played only two games before he got hurt and missed five games.
Losing Youn, though, was the biggest blow, as the coaching staff had no practice time to adjust to his absence – and Youn “is a true two-way middie,” said Duffy, who made major contributions on both ends of the field.
But thanks to seniors Dave Roman and Charlie Hwang, morale stayed high. “Dave was the glue that held us together,” said Duffy, but it was a tough slog through a competitive preseason schedule.
Even when fully healthy, though, it took time to for the team to gel, and a couple close losses just before spring break could have sent the whole season south.
But four full days of practice before the Campolindo game got everyone on the same page, the Mats rolled to four straight lopsided league wins before losing to league champ Acalanes by one. And that was the last loss of the season.
Led by an elite defense, Miramonte won two more league games and then dominated overmatched Sonoma Valley in the first round of the Division 2 playoffs. Next up was Piedmont, a team that had beaten Miramonte earlier in the year – and Youn had hurt his other ankle and missed the game.
But the defense made a single-goal lead stand up in the fourth quarter, and Miramonte moved on to face University in the semis. A 7-4 win there, also without Youn, set up the final against top seed Terra Linda, another team that beat the Mats early in the season.
“It was a revenge tour,” said Duffy, and unanimous first-team all-league goalie Bowie Hillstrom made sure it finished with a crowd-pleasing encore. The defense only allowed 16 shots on goal, and Hillstrom stopped 12 of them – an impressive 75% save percentage that keyed a 13-4 win.
And the program’s first-ever NCS title.