Tallulah Bates '25
Lacrosse’s popularity and interest has boomed in the recent decades, so much so that, according to the New York Times, it is one of the fastest growing sports in US high schools and colleges today. For Cate students, this spring trimester has ushered in an insanely successful season for Boys Varsity Lacrosse. Across more than a dozen games, countless hours, and many “hype” films accredited to Johnny Foster ‘25, the “brotherhood” has worked tirelessly to make it to the playoffs.
Find below a series of interviews with some members of this awe-inspiring team:
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In one word, how would you describe the season thus far?
Troy Shapiro (coach): Exciting
Burak Yanar (goalie, ‘24): Unfinished
Crosby Rosenthal (mid-fielder, ‘24): Exhilarating
Ethan Rehnborg (mid-fielder, ‘25): Unifying
Would you call this season “insanely successful” or just “successful,” if either?
Shapiro: I think that we are continuing on some of the success that we built over the last four years. We’ve been on an upward trajectory in our league and in our division, and this year was similar to last year in terms of numerical success, but we also accomplished some goals…we beat a couple teams that we wanted to beat, we did our job of finishing first in the league, and now we’re well postured for playoffs. So yeah, it’s been a success. And outside of that, we’ve also had a lot of success bringing in the new group of kids, which was one of the big goals for the seniors. Seeing the engagement from the freshman class, that’s one of our big metrics of success.
Yanar ‘24: We set our goal at a strong performance in CIF playoffs so we haven’t achieved that yet, however we have been successful in league [games]... as a result of a series of strong team efforts.
Rosenthal ‘24: I’d say it’s been relatively successful, especially when looking solely at the scoreboard, but I think that we’re not playing to our fullest, and to our best. We still have a long way to go. Sure, we’ve played consistently from game to game, but I would say that we played down a lot to some of our competitors’ level.
In your opinion, what was the most inspiring moment of the season?
Shapiro: In terms of on the field, our toughest opponent on the field was a school called Oak Park, who beat us pretty bad last year, and we knew we really wanted to try and beat them this year. At half-time in our game against them, we were down 1-5. It was cool to see the posture of the team huddle, no one wanted to see [last year] happen again. Everyone knew they each had a job to do, and we came back out and won 12-6. It was really cool to see every player reaching their highest potential.
Rosenthal ‘24: I think it was probably Quincy’s ‘26 goal against Santa Barbara or San Marcos.
Cody had gotten hurt and Quincy came in and scored this crazy goal with no angle and everybody just went wild on the sideline.
What are your hopes for next season? Do you think that the team is losing a lot with the seniors leaving?
Shapiro: Yes. [Losing seniors] is one of the things that’s always both sad and exciting; it’s sad because we’re losing ten seniors, I think five of whom started in our program as ninth graders. And so, those four-year players have had such a meaningful impact that we'll never replace those guys. And, the seniors have always played a role of motivating the next class after them…and we’re really excited to see the juniors step into that same role. All in all, we’re going to lose a lot, sure, but we’re going to see a lot of growth.
In terms of the current ninth-graders every one of them oriented themselves towards a great career. And what I love about this is that I can really clearly relate such potential to our current seniors; even more so, the guys who are ninth graders now, are further along than many of the seniors had been after their first season. And while [the freshman] don’t necessarily see this, as coaches we can [see their potential]... I can guarantee that we are going to lose a game next year. I don’t know if we’re going to lose a lot, I don’t know if we’re going to lose one, but how this core young group responds, and are they going buy into this culture, are they going to keep doubling down on what we do, or are they going to doubt. That’s going to be a fun thing to watch them navigate and I have a lot of faith that they’re going to handle it really well.
Rosenthal ‘24: I do think that it’ll be tough. We are losing a lot of our team, a lot of our starters. I do think that it’ll be really hard to replace that. If the freshman and sophomores keep working hard, we can still hold the Channel League through next season.
Do you consider Cate’s team to be close-knit or sharp-elbowed?
Yanar ‘24: We want to be a family. That's the most important goal of the program–to cultivate a family that is maintained both on and off the team.
Shapiro: …[This concept of family] is an idea we lean on most. As you can imagine, lacrosse is a very high intensity, emotional sport. Everyone feels very tired at the end of a lot of practices, and so due to these emotions running high, everything we feel, we feel really strongly. When we’re happy, we’re really happy, but when we’re frustrated with each other, we’re really frustrated with each other. The good thing about being a family is that we always orient towards pushing through those moments and sticking together. At the end of a practice or at the end of a game, when someone is really feeling bummed out, they’re never alone. There’s a great comradery of “whatever you’re going through, let’s go through it together.”
We have a saying in our team: “we win because we have good culture, we don’t have good culture just because we win.”
Rosenthal ‘24: I think that generally within lacrosse, there is a certain stereotype regarding this idea of “bro-culture,” but I think with coaches like Shaps and especially at Cate, this mentality is broken. It’s not toxic; if anything we make fun of it and play into that stereotype… I would agree that the team is a lot like a family. I play football, and they call that a family but there’s something different about lacrosse, probably due to the importance that Shaps puts on us working together…I can definitely attribute our successes on the field to this mindset.
Lastly, can you name one player/member of the team to shout-out?
Shapiro: We owe a ton of our success to Zaq Asuamah ‘23, who’s a senior, who’s been playing for the last two years. And on a team where we have guys with a lot more experience, Zaq is one of those guys who is often in the background and carries out all the little things.
Rosenthal ‘24: Zaq Asuamah ‘23 in the midfield. He’s gotten so much better this year, and, you don’t always realize it, but he completely controls the middle of the field. Watching him play is just awesome.
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The last two games of the Boys Lacrosse season brought clear skies and competitive energies to the Mesa. Both saw family spirit seeping into the Cate community, with students and faculty alike coming to support the team on their road to victory. Saturday’s game gave the Cate team a win that was decisive and satisfying, and at the final horn, the team rushed together to celebrate. While Tuesday’s game ended in a different way, the team, particularly the seniors, continued to shine through with multiple goals, truly making the most of their final games at Cate.
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