By Charlton Azuoma and David Gobel

After narrowly defeating Crespi 8-7 to clinch a second consecutive Mission League title, the lacrosse team was eliminated in the first round of CIF playoffs with a 13-8 loss to Mira Costa May 1.

“I honestly think most of [the reason we lost] was because we had back-to-back games,” team co-captain Connor Pasich ’12 said. “I think that if we were fresh and prepared for the Mira Costa game, we would have had a much better shot.”

After winning the Mission League last year, the team experienced some major changes with a significantly altered starting lineup and a new coach in Jay Pfeifer.

“We only had three returning starters from last year, one on offense and two on defense, and really I didn’t think we were going to win the Mission League this year,” co-captain Evan Meister ’12 said.

However, with strong play from many underclassmen, the Wolverines were able to continue the success they had last season, Pasich said.

“Our biggest improvement [this season] was getting an ability to work together well, which is something we didn’t really have at the beginning of the season because there were a bunch of guys coming up from JV. And we had a new coach,” Pasich said. “We had a lot of guys who stepped that didn’t have much of a role last year.”

Next year, the team will lose three major starters in Meister, Pasich and goalie Matthew Mantel ’12.