Lax: Nighthawks’ stellar season ends with loss in final

After the Del Norte High boys lacrosse team fell to El Camino in the quarterfinals of the San Diego Section Division II playoffs last season, then first-year coach Liam Mbuthia went up to junior Dusty Yohner with a message.

“I told him the team was his now,” Mbuthia said. “I told him the keys were his.”

Yohner, a senior midfielder, took those keys and helped lead the Nighthawks to their most accomplished season in school history this year. Even though there wasn’t a happy ending, as Del Norte fell to La Jolla 11-5 in the Division II championship game Saturday at Granite Hills, the Nighthawks set a solid foundation for years to come after their stellar 2016 season.

Del Norte (12-9) finished with a school-record 12 wins and posted victories over Rancho Bernardo and San Marcos for the first time. The third-seeded Nighthawks advanced to their second section championship game, knocking off El Camino and second-seeded St. Augustine in the process.

“This team achieved more than anything I ever expected for sure,” Mbuthia said after receiving the runner-up championship trophy. “I never thought we would come close to this. We had a lot of firsts. We never had double-digit wins. We never ended the season with a winning record. We beat San Marcos in double-overtime for the first time and that was our first overtime win. We beat Rancho Bernardo for the first time, which was huge. We just accomplished more than I ever could have ever hoped or dreamed.”

The dream year came to a sad finish Saturday. Top-seeded La Jolla raced out to a 3-0 lead through the first quarter and the Nighthawks were never able to recover. Del Norte clawed to within 5-3 early in the third quarter, but the Vikings scored three answered and six of the next eight goals to put the game out of reach.

“We got down early and we had the momentum back there for a little bit,” said freshman Luke Welch, who led the Nighthawks with four goals. “We kept fighting, but just couldn’t keep it going.”

Yohner found the back of the net with 3:36 left in the contest, capping an outstanding four-year career. He finished the season with 26 goals.

“He has been our backbone,” Mbuthia said. “If we had a Johnny Hustle Award he would have gotten it. He was always the first on the field and the last to leave. I would always have to leave some extra balls out there and the goals up so he could practice. He has meant everything to our program.”

The loss of Yohner will hurt, but the Nighthawks have a bright future with Jake Welch, Luke Welch, Tyler Reinecke and goalkeeper Jordan Penn all returning. Mbuthia, who installed a new offense this year, thinks the program is on the rise.

“This is just step one,” he said. “We are only going to get better from here. You don’t win championships playing February to May. You have to play year around and the 2017 season starts on Monday. They will have the weekend to rest up and then we are going to start up again.”