Crescenta Valley girls, St. Francis make lacrosse playoff debuts

However daunting their first-round draws might well be, the Crescenta Valley High girls’ and St. Francis lacrosse programs were plenty happy with what they have accomplished and where they will be on Tuesday.

For the first time in both programs’ short histories, the Falcons and Golden Knights made the U.S. Lacrosse Southern Section Los Angeles Division I playoffs.

“[I’m] tremendously excited with what we’ve accomplished,” Falcons Coach Boz Crowther said. “Playing in the playoffs and having a chance to move on is just icing on the cake.”

Fourteenth-seeded Crescenta Valley, in its second year of existence, will open up the Los Angeles DI playoffs on the road Tuesday against No. 3 Redondo Union at 7 p.m., while St. Francis, in its fourth season, will open up the L.A. boys’ playoffs on the road Tuesday against second-seeded Loyola at a time to be determined.

In the L.A. Division II eight-team tournament, Glendale, as the fourth seed, will host No. 5 Chadwick on Wednesday at 4 p.m.

Crescenta Valley (9-4), which took second in the Pacific League a season after tying for third, is headed to play Redondo Union (12-2) on a three-match winning streak and will need to be at its best to pull off an upset.

“Redondo has been very good for a very long time,” Crowther said. “They’re a very strong team.”

Should the Falcons pull off the upset, they would stay on the road against No. 6 Birmingham or No. 11 West Ranch in Thursday’s second round, in which the higher seed hosts.

In the boys’ bracket, St. Francis (9-8) faces a familiar foe in Mission League champion Loyola (15-4).

“It’s about exactly where I expected us to be,” Golden Knights Coach Geoff Watson said of the draw.

The Golden Knights tied for third in their second season in league and fourth overall (their first two were as a freelance team). They went 3-3 in league, sweeping Crespi and splitting with Chaminade as they earned their first-ever league wins en route to their first postseason berth.

“A lot of firsts this season,” Watson said. “I think that the boys have really done well.”

St. Francis lost to Loyola, 20-3, on March 18 and fell, 16-4, on April 19.

If the Golden Knights orchestrate an upset, they’ll travel again on Thursday to play No. 7 Oaks Christian or No. 10 Thacher.

Hindered by graduation, some injuries and two of its top players moving out of the area, Glendale (3-12) struggled against a gauntlet of a schedule that featured the likes of top-ranked teams such as Oak Park, Tesoro, San Juan Hills and Redondo. The Nitros finished third in the Pacific League and will take part in the Division II tournament, which, for all intents and purposes, is a consolation tournament.

“That’s why we’re in the Division II playoffs,” said Glendale Coach Joe Campbell in regards to his team’s three wins. “I think there’s a lot of teams in the Division I playoffs we’d have a chance at beating, but if you don’t win, you don’t get in.”

If Glendale downs Chadwick (7-3), it would travel to face No. 1 Valencia on Friday or host No. 8 Westridge.

The Los Angeles semifinals for boys’ lacrosse and girls’ Division I will be hosted May 7 at Glendale High in a quadruple-header beginning at noon with the final game set for a 7 p.m. start.

The LA Division I girls’ final will be at Mira Costa at 5 p.m. on May 11, the boys’ final will follow at 7 p.m on the same date at Mira Costa and the Division II girls’ final will also be on May 11 with a 7 p.m. start at Valencia High.