NEWPORT BEACH – It seemed only fitting that as time expired, the ball found its way to Nick Guizan, who knew what to do with it.
“It was definitely fun to chuck it (the ball) at the end and go hug all of my teammates,” Guizan said. “We’ve worked insanely hard for this.”
Guizan, a senior goalie for Corona del Mar, was on his game all day, making 11 saves to help top-ranked Corona del Mar hold off visiting and third-ranked St. Margaret’s, 8-7, Tuesday in a nonleague boys lacrosse contest.
“Honestly, to be a goalie, you have to kind of play in the moment and let it all just go by,” he said. “You clear your head, get into a zone and if a save comes, it comes and if it doesn’t you brush it off.”
St. Margaret’s scored on its first three shots, jumping to a 3-0 lead. Late in the second period, CdM took its first lead, 4-3, on a goal from Sachin Gokhale with 15 seconds remaining.
The second period turned into a battle between the goalies as Guizan and St. Margaret’s Peyton Fales traded saves. CdM took a 4-3 lead into halftime.
CdM’s Will Favreau scored in the third period, but St. Margaret’s rallied with goals by Koa Todd and Kevin Groeninger to tie the score, 5-5, heading into the fourth.
Favreau and Jake Elisuis opened the fourth with goals for CdM and Guizan did the rest to preserve the victory.
“To be successful, you have to a clean slate,” Guizan said. “Keep your eye on the release of the ball and track it into your stick.”
This is Guizan’s first year starting in goal for CdM. He replaced Hoyt Crance, who is now at Yale.
“I thought he was brilliant,” Corona del Mar coach G.W. Mix said of Guizan. “He’s done a good job for us all year. Those were some big shoes to fill (replacing Crance), and he’s filled them well. He’s pretty calm and collected in there and he made some huge saves when we needed him to.”
Favreau led CdM with four goals. Groeninger led St. Margaret’s with three goals.
Contact the writer: dcalhoun@ocregister.com
