Birmingham ends Palisades' run of City Section dominance in boys lacrosse
Birmingham captures its first City Section title in boys' lacrosse in more than a decade with a 20-8 victory over nine-time defending champion Palisades.
Brandon Lopez celebrates after scoring against Palisades in the City Section boys' lacrosse final on Friday. (Steve Galluzzo / For The Times) One Dolphins dynasty continued while another came to an end Thursday night at Palisades High. Two and a half hours after Palisades' girls team captured its fourth straight City Section lacrosse championship with a 20-8 trouncing of Birmingham, Palisades boys saw their streak of nine consecutive titles snapped in a 5-4 loss to the same school.
Birmingham’s boys had split two regular-season meetings with Palisades, losing the first 6-5 and winning the second 5-4 in overtime and the rubber match was just as closely contested and even more physical. Read more: Prep sports roundup: Zion Phelps of Loyola proves he's fastest in the Mission League After Palisades’ Aidean Stuempfig scored to tie it 4-4 early in the fourth quarter, Jayden Ruiz’s goal put the visitors back in front with 6:43 left. Patriots goalie Christopher Cortes had a heroic performance, stopping an astounding 24 shots — the last coming one second before the final horn.
“Our team is amazing — we came here to win this and we did,” said Cortes, a sophomore who gave up soccer to take up lacrosse. “I like the adrenaline you get as a goalie and the feeling that you’re helping your team out. Even when I got scored on, I didn’t let it get to me.
” Alexander Manton scored to tie it 1-1 in the first quarter. His second goal gave Birmingham a 3-1 lead in the second quarter. Albert Zometa and Brandon Lopez also scored for Birmingham (10-7), which upset Palisades 9-4 in 2015 for its only other City title.