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  • Johnny Rodriguez talks to the Trabuco Hills lacrosse team Tuesday...

    Johnny Rodriguez talks to the Trabuco Hills lacrosse team Tuesday during his first practice as the team's head coach.

  • Trabuco Hills lacrosse head coach Johnny Rodriguez helps his player...

    Trabuco Hills lacrosse head coach Johnny Rodriguez helps his player Troy Femner with his stick work Tuesday at San Juan Capistrano Rinks. It was the first practice for Rodriguez, who is starting his first varsity head coaching job.

  • Trabuco Hills lacrosse coach Johnny Rodriguez talks to the team...

    Trabuco Hills lacrosse coach Johnny Rodriguez talks to the team during his first practice Tuesday at San Juan Capistrano Rinks. Rodriguez, who moved to California eight months ago, took his first varsity head coaching job with the Mustangs.

  • Johnny Rodriguez, standing far right, holds his first practice as...

    Johnny Rodriguez, standing far right, holds his first practice as head coach of the Trabuco Hills lacrosse team Tuesday at San Juan Capistrano Rinks. He meets his players with coaches Perry Craz, far left, and Kevin O'Bierne.

  • Johnny Rodriguez demonstrates techinique during the his first practice as...

    Johnny Rodriguez demonstrates techinique during the his first practice as head coach of the Trabuco Hills lacrosse team. Rodriguez won a Division-III national championship as a college goalie at Salisbury University.

  • Johnny Rodriguez holds his first practice as head coach of...

    Johnny Rodriguez holds his first practice as head coach of the Trabuco Hills lacrosse team Tuesday at San Juan Capistrano Rinks. The team practices after sun down so lighting traditionallly used for theater hangs on gates around their practice rink.

  • Johnny Rodriguez, center, holds his first practice as head coach...

    Johnny Rodriguez, center, holds his first practice as head coach of the Trabuco Hills lacrosse team Tuesday at San Juan Capistrano Rinks. A successful college and professional goalie, Rodriguez is taking on his first varsity head coaching job.

  • Johnny Rodriguez talks to the Trabuco Hills lacrosse team flanked...

    Johnny Rodriguez talks to the Trabuco Hills lacrosse team flanked by offensive coordinator Perry Craz, left, and defensive coordinator Kevin O'Bierne Tuesday as the team held its first practice with Rodriguez at the helm. Rodriguez said building a strong coaching staff was key to the program's success.

  • Johnny Rodriguez holds his first practice as head coach of...

    Johnny Rodriguez holds his first practice as head coach of the Trabuco Hills lacrosse team Tuesday at San Juan Capistrano Rinks.

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A disappointing 5-13 record last season left the Trabuco Hills lacrosse program looking for a new varsity head coach over the summer. The Mustangs have handed the reigns to Johnny Rodriguez, a 24-year-old whose credentials include a professional career and collegiate national championship as a goalie.

“I couldn’t be more excited about this opportunity … very honored to get this position,” Rodriguez said.

Trabuco Hills Athletic Director Kurt Walker said the school had a number of qualified candidates interested in the position, but that Rodriguez was the “total package.”

“Johnny has a championship background,” Walker said. “He comes across as extremely organized, he has a vision for the program and he has some resources. He’s going to bring some structure and bring a fresh voice.”

Eight months ago, a born-and-bred east coaster, Rodriguez moved out to California with little more than the lure of the coast and a connection to coach some camps or clinics. Now he is excitedly talking about the coaching staff he will put together and the values he wants to impart on the Mustangs.

“What I’m looking for once I get in there is guys that are 100 percent willing to work, willing to get better, for themselves and each other – each other mainly, the team mainly,” Rodriguez said. “I’m looking to turn this program around with myself and the coaching staff that we have and the team that we’re going to have this year. At least flip our record around from what it was last year.”

Rodriguez got his first taste of lacrosse on the west coast back in high school when, during his junior year at Mount Saint Joseph High in Baltimore, Md., his team took a trip out west to play a few games, including Orange County opponents St. Margaret’s and Foothill.

Following high school, Rodriguez ended up playing collegiately at Salisbury University in Salisbury, Md. As a member of the Division-III Sea Gulls, Rodriguez won a national title and, more importantly, met Jim Berkman, a 10-time national champion at Salisbury and the all-time winningest coach in NCAA lacrosse.

“(I) really developed my game there, had the best coach in college lacrosse. And if it weren’t for all that happening, I probably wouldn’t be out here,” Rodriguez said.

Berkman said Rodriguez “was a guy that always loved the game” and “made plays coaches dream about.”

“He’s an energetic guy and I hope he’s able to use that energy and enthusiasm to motivate and make guys do the things it takes to get better,” Berkman said.

With one more year of school to finish after exhausting his NCAA playing eligibility, Rodriguez nearly started coaching alongside Berkman as an assistant, but he was drafted by the Chesapeake Bayhawks of Major League Lacrosse. After quickly being traded to MLL’s Ohio Machine, Rodriguez spent his senior year attending class during the week and flying off to wherever the Machine was playing on the weekend, even missing graduation while away at a game.

“After I had graduated, I was kind of was able to take a step back and look at where am I going to go right now in my life. What have I done so far?” Rodriguez said. “And I could just really see how passionate I was about the game. I saw how much the game gave me; it gave me opportunities to play professionally which gave me opportunities to be able to coach at high levels.”

With coaching on his mind, Rodriguez mulled his options and thought back to his experience out west.

“I remembered that (trip). I knew I wanted to move somewhere…life’s short. I didn’t want to stay in Maryland. I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and what better place to move than Southern California.”

Through St. Margaret’s coach and fellow Mount Saint Joseph’s alum, Mark Warren, Rodriguez met St. Margaret’s head coach Glen Miles.

“They got me started. I couldn’t be more thankful for them,” Rodriguez said. ”They really got me going, got me coaching right away on some club teams, just enough to pay rent for the first few months I was out here.”

Rodriguez’s first high school coaching job came when he responded to an online ad for a position at La Costa Canyon High in Carlsbad. Given the option of being a varsity assistant or head coach of the freshman team, Rodriguez “chose the freshman team because I wanted to run the show, I wanted to make the decisions. I was very confident about my knowledge and my IQ of the game.”

Under Rodriguez, the La Costa Canyon freshman started 3-3 but rallied to finish 16-4 on the season.

Once last season ended, Rodriguez was considering doing only camps and clinics, but after a month away, he realized how much he missed coaching. Rodriguez heard about Trabuco Hills’ opening and got in touch with Walker.

While Rodriguez is just starting practice with his new players, he has been busy assembling a strong coaching staff which he believes is important to the program’s success. After putting up an ad online for assistant coaches, he got around 30 email responses in 10 days. He’s hoping to attract others with east coast pedigree and convince them to make the same leap out west he did.

“Even the amount of time I’ve been out here, I’ve seen this game get bigger,” Rodriguez said.” A few years from now, lacrosse is going to be just as good out here as it is out east, it’s just a matter of time.”

Contact the writer: 949-454-7323 or jwilkinson@ocregister.com