The Campolindo varsity boys lacrosse team’s season has come to an end. Ending with an 11-6 record, improving from their record during last season, and an NCS playoff run. Despite the improvement in their win-loss total, teammates senior Patrick Sebree and sophomore Boden Rasmussen described their season as being full of “ups and downs.”

By the team’s fifth game, their record was a disappointing 2-3. However, after a loss to rival Acalanes, where Rasmussen said the Dons “had their way” with Campo, their season turned around. The Cougars rallied and were able to win 8 out of their last 9 games.

Once the postseason hit, however, they had to travel back down to Lafayette to rematch the Dons for the Diablo Athletic League (DAL) championship game. They kept it close through the first 3 quarters, but eventually, Acalanes did pull away in the fourth quarter to secure the 12-10 victory.

Despite their loss in the DAL game, the Cougars still easily made it into the North Coast Section (NCS) playoff bracket. As the fifth-seeded team, their first playoff game was against the twelfth-seeded Livermore Cowboys. The Cougars got past them easily with a 10-5 victory.

Next, however, they faced a rematch against Justin-Siena, a team who they fell one-point short of beating in the regular season. This unfortunately would be the last game of their season, as they ended up losing 9-6.

Along with being the end of their 2023 season, it was also the end of a Campo lacrosse career for some. Seniors Harrison Leenhouts and Sebree have nothing but respect when talking about each other and their time spent on the lacrosse field together.

Sebree said that Leenhouts is “A great leader on and off the field.” He adds that, “He’s definitely shown on the field why he’s the best. He can basically score at will.” Leenhouts will continue to play lacrosse in college at Colby College in Maine, at the Division III level. Sebree will also continue playing lacrosse in college at Chapman University in Southern California.

Rasmussen had some words of farewell for his teammates that won’t be back next year, mainly for Sebree and Leenhouts. “It’s going to be tough to go to practice next year without them. I’m going to miss guys like them leading the team.”

But for the players returning next year, they believe that they will continue the precedent that their current seniors have set, making deep playoff runs. Regarding the team’s loss in the NCS quarter finals, Rasmussen said that they will “definitely be back there.” The team is confident that their sophomore-heavy roster will lead them to glory.

Sophomore Gaeton Avicolli has already shown that he can play at a high level, earning 2nd team All League Honors this season. He had the second-most goals on the team, only beaten out by Leenhouts. Rhett Hollyfield, the only freshman to crack the varsity roster this year, was voted as the team’s “Rookie of the Year” by Sebree, Rasmussen, and Leenhouts. Sebree said that, “He started off a little slow, but by the end of the year you could definitely tell he was meant to be on a varsity field.”

The future is bright for Cougars lacrosse, with all of the young talent that will continue to flourish in the upcoming seasons.