By Michael Carnow
WSL Special Correspondent

CARLSBAD, Calif. – La Costa Canyon head coach Dallas Hartley emphasized there was no ‘I’ in team to his players as they headed into their showdown against St. Ignatius Prep.

Well, Coach Hartley, there is in “win.” And that is something the Mavericks hadn't done against the Wildcats in nearly six years before Friday night.

Senior middie Ian Hare and senior attackman Johnny Morgan both scored a co-game-high two goals to lead No. 3 La Costa Canyon to a 7-1 victory over No. 9 St. Ignatius Prep in a California Interscholastic Federation game.

“This is the best team effort we have had as a whole here at LCC,” said Hartley, whose team combined for five assisted goals and also had five different players score.

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Senior attackman Timmy Andrews and sophomore attackman Brendan Gaughan each added two points on one goal and one assist, junior middie Michael Gennuso scored once and junior middie Andrew Bertha, junior attackman Sean Hayden and junior long-stick middie Mike Riis all dished one assist to round out the scoring and help La Costa Canyon (5-0) remain unbeaten.

The victory snaps La Costa Canyon’s two-year losing streak against the Wildcats and was the Mavericks first over St. Ignatius Prep since April 14, 2004.

“The past games played a big part into tonight,” Hartley added. “They didn’t just come in here and beat us. They whooped us then, so it was good to get this victory tonight.”

Defensively, the Mavericks held St. Ignatius Prep without a goal on six extra-man opportunities, and junior goalie Eric Sanschagrin saved 11 shots to help La Costa Canyon preserve its lead.

“We played a complete game,” Sanschagrin said. “Our defense really stepped up tonight to play a solid game, and offense put in goals when we needed them to. We are starting to gain that reputation of being a blue-collar team now, and we’re ready for what is in store for us next.”

In a losing effort, Duke-bound senior middie Dax Cohan scored the only goal for the Wildcats (3-2), who were dealt their second loss in the same season for the first time since 2006.

St. Ignatius Prep won seven of the game’s 11 face-offs, but the extra possession did not translate into more goals.

The Mavericks took control early, scoring five unanswered goals during a near 25-minute stretch of the first, second and third quarters.

Morgan capped La Costa Canyon’s run by taking advantage of a man-up situation when he ripped a 10-yard shot, top right, to give the Mavericks a 5-0 lead.

Cohan stopped the bleeding with 6:48 remaining in the third quarter, as he capitalized on a rebound off Sanschagrin’s chest and stuck a shot while standing on the crease to bring his team within four.

But La Costa Canyon quickly dashed St. Ignatius’s hopes of a comeback when Gennusso scored on another man-up situation 15 seconds later.

“Wow, they were very athletic,” St. Ignatius Prep head coach Chris Packard said. “They played well as a team, and I couldn’t help but noticing how excited they were, which is tough to overcome when you are down. They did what we thought they were going to do but just did it better than we expected they would.”