In 2003 Leon Bennett, a local attorney, and Coach Mike McGovern, a Business graduate from Fairfield University and professional lacrosse player from the New Jersey Storm, put together the first Oak Park Lacrosse Club. Four years later, that team won the California State DII Club Championship, going undefeated at 18-0. Oak Park was 65-5 at the end of 2007. In those first four years Oak Park Lacrosse had been elevated into the top 100 high school lacrosse teams in the country and 10 players had gone on to play college lacrosse. Oak Park had 2 All-Americans, 2 undefeated SCLA League Championships and sent it's first player, Chad Costello, to play NCAA Division 1 lacrosse at Yale University in that 4 year period.
In 2008, new Head Coach Chris White took over the reins and Oak Park High School granted Oak Park Lacrosse CIF status with a 3 year pilot program. Their initial CIF season finished with a highly successful 14-5 record including an exciting overtime playoff win against Chaminade and a thrilling season ending loss to Palos Verdes in the CIF Southern Section playoffs. Another All-American, Brett Zeolla, and the 2nd NCAA Division 1 player, Corey Whelan, were part of the 2008 squad.
A senior laden 2009 squad rebounded from an 0-4 start to finish 11-9 including an 8 game home winning streak. The season ended with a heartbreaking overtime playoff loss at Peninsula. The Eagles had their 4th All-American and another NCAA Division 1 player when Grayson Phillips accepted an offer to attend Fairfield University. In November 2009, Oak Park formed their first OP Starz HS team and played in the high school division of the winter Starz program.
2010 began a new era with Oak Park's 3rd head coach, Tarik Egin, taking over the reins. Also new for 2010 was the formation of the 101 Coast League which included Oaks Christian, Malibu and the former SCLA teams, Agoura, Newbury Park, Westlake, Thousand Oaks and Calabasas. Oak Park also added 6 5th quarter games to allow more playing time for the younger players on the team. With only 3 returning seniors, this was a rebuilding year for Oak Park. The team played surprisingly well and finished strong with wins in 6 of the last 7 games to finish a respectable 10-8 and 4th place in the 101 Coast league and another Southern Section playoff berth. A first round loss at Harvard-Westlake in the playoffs ended the Eagle season. The Eagles continued their involvement in the Starz program with their first summer team. LA Lazers also formed as a Regional Starz team to compete at the summer Sonoma Shootout and winter Adrenaline Challenge with a sprinkling of OP players playing at all levels. Winter Starz was another first for OP as they had both a JV and Varsity team.
2011 was the first year for a funded Varsity program and a parent funded JV team at OPHS. The Eagles dominated the 101 Coast league winning all 14 games by an average score of 14-6. The high powered OP offense was fueled by an attack line of junior Grant Consoletti and seniors Tommy Evans and Grant Pestano. The midfield was led by sophomore Noboru Kobashigawa and senior Austin Toyama. The stingy Eagle defense was anchored by freshman goalie Shane Bracken and senior Conner Phillips and sophomore Richard Carman. The Eagles finished a perfect 17-0 and earned the program's first home playoff game. OP didn't disappoint the huge Friday night crowd as they defeated a physical Palisades Charter squad. The season ended at Palos Verdes when the Eagles ran into a quick and deep Sea King team. The Eagles lose 2 attackmen, 1 midfielder and 1 defenseman but shouldn't lose a step due to a talented JV squad that finished their first season 12-2-1. They outscored their opponents by an average of 12-5. Grant Consoletti became the 5th All American from Oak Park and was selected League MVP as a junior. The summer OP Starz took the next step by getting to the finals of the Starz Cup and dominated the rosters of the summer LA Lazer team. Winter brought the first Elite Championship to the LA Lazers at the Adrenalin Challenge and the HS LA Lazer team took the title at the Adrenaline Sun Devil Sizzler. OP placed 18 players on the 4 winter LA Lazer teams. WInter Starz was dominated by OP Starz as they won both the JV and Varsity divisions.
2012 was a frustrating year at 6-10. Expectations were high after the 17-0 2011 season and highly effective off season OP Starz seasons. But a variety of issues resulting in 5 returning starters: Dominic Ju (LPM), Noburo Kobashigawa, Mary Kerns and David Eng (M) and Grant Consoletti (A) missing all or nearly all the of the season. Consoletti and Kobashigawa contributed over 106 goals and 54 assists in 2011 and are going on to play college lacrosse at Navy and Drexel respectively. These holes in the offense led to the inability to score and losses in close games - OP lost six 1 goal games including 3 OT losses. The positive side is that sophomores gained lots of experience which should translate into wins in 2013.
2013 led to a return to independent status after the formation of the Marmonte lacrosse league which included Simi and Royal high school. Oak Park upgraded their schedule to include 3 of the top Orange County teams and ended up with the 3rd hardest schedule in the CIF Southern Section. A quality win against CIF SS finalist Harvard-Westlake and a 9-8 loss to CIF SS champion St. Margarets highlighted a 8-8 season. Consistency continued to plague the Eagles both offensively and defensively as they lost to Agoura, Westlake and Newbury Park. OP made the playoffs as the 9th seed and defeated 8th seed Malibu on the road in the first round. The Eagles traveled to top seeded Palos Verdes and were unable to keep a halftime lead and fell to the SeaKings 9-5. OP Starz dominated the Summer Starz and participated in the local Fall league at Agoura for the first time. The winter led to OP Starz participating in 3 tournaments in Orange County, Thousand Oaks and Santa Barbara. Hopefully the experience gained against quality competition will translate into wins in 2014. Expections are high with 14 seniors and 10 juniors returning for Eagles in 2014. The JV continued to dominate the local competition with a 12-1 record. The only loss coming to Orange County St Margarets in the 2nd game of the season, a game they led 4-2 at halftime.
The 2014 team went on an exciting playoff run which ended in a spot in the Southern Section, Northern Division Champship game against familiar playoff foe, Palos Verdes. Unfortunately, the outcome was the same as the Eagles lost to the Sea Kings 9-6. The Eagles had 3 straight 1 goal playoff wins over Oaks Christian, Newbury Park and Crespi on their way to the Championship game. With a senior heavy squad that had a up and down 12-5 regular season record which included a first ever win over Palos Verdes but losses to local rivals, Newbury Park, Oaks Christian and Thousand Oaks. Five players moved on to play college lacrosse with 3 going to club programs,1 headed to a Division II program and 1 to a Division III program. Shane Bracken and Brendan Jasso were named All Americans, Hunter Jamison Academic All American and Coach Ergin Coach of the Year. OP will be in reload mode for 2015.
