CHULA VISTACHULA VISTA — Castle Park High School first fielded a girls varsity lacrosse program in 2014. The Trojans finished 0-15. The next year, they were 0-6.
After that challenging start, in stepped 26-year-old Chris Kryjewski, who had been a backup wing back at Castle Park and dreamed of becoming his alma mater’s head football coach.
“I thought if I could take a program with zero foundation like lacrosse and turn it into a winner, I could become a head coach in football, a sport I’d been around for 20 years,” said Kryjewski, who is on campus working as an instructional assistant with students with learning disabilities.
The Castle Park girls lacrosse team’s record in 2016, Kryjewski’s first season, was 0-17. The next year it was 2-15.
While some might have tossed in the towel — Kryjewski was known for tossing more than a few clipboards in frustration — the coach did not bolt.
Fast forward to the present. Castle Park boasts a 12-9 record and is assured of back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in program history.
The tale of Castle Park’s girls lacrosse metamorphosis is told in layers. Kryjewski has doggedly fallen hard for lacrosse, growing the game not just at his school but in the South Bay.
The Trojans have been blessed with the arrival of the Dynamic Duo, sophomore Leilani Roche and junior Xiclali Ramirez, aka Lana and Lali. Roche stands all of 5-foot-1.
“She has great speed,” said Kryjewski, “but overall, she’s just one of those I want to sit here and say God blessed her with amazing talent. Any sport she plays, she can pick it up. She is an athlete.”
Roche had just one year of club lacrosse experience before playing her freshman season last year at Castle Park. She scored 70 goals in 2023, averaging 3.3 per game. This year she has flung 97 balls into the net, averaging 4.6 goals per game.
With two-plus seasons still to play, Roche is already Castle Park’s all-time leading goal scorer with 163. As for that athleticism, Roche played field hockey and flag football in the fall, soccer and basketball in the winter, and lacrosse in the spring.
To Mar Vista coach Shizuka Baker, what separates Roche — who was a two-way starter on the Trojans’ boys JV football team as a freshman — is her indomitable spirit.
“She’s relentless, never gives up,” Baker said. “Even from a distance you can tell she inspires her teammates. She’s a hugely dominant person.
“She’s a lot.”
Asked what she meant that Roche is “a lot,” Baker said, “Super energetic, super loud, super positive, in the best way possible. With some people, you’re like, ‘OK, dial it down.’ Not Roche. She’s so enthusiastic about playing.”
Roche and Ramirez are midfielders. While Roche takes the draw and is the attacking, dominant scorer, Ramirez plays with more finesse.
“Roche wants to drive all the time. When the ball’s in her hands, she wants to score as much as possible,” said Kryjewski. “Ramirez can control the ball a lot more, swing the ball around when she needs to. She has good field vision.”
Ramirez, who didn’t play lacrosse until last season, has scored 46 goals. Combined, the two have ed for 143 of Castle Park’s 189 goals, a 75.7 percent clip. By comparison, No. 1-ranked Torrey Pines’ top two goal scorers for 46.8 percent of the Falcons’ scoring.
As you would expect, the two players are close.
“She’s so nice, she’s so caring,” Roche said of Ramirez. “She understands me, she always cares. If she’s got food and I don’t have food, she’s going to share. She’s an all-in-one teammate.”
“There was a time this season when she was a little sicky poo,” Ramirez said of Roche, who battled a stomach virus for about six games. “She threw up. What I ired is she kept coming, kept playing. I definitely have a very big soft spot for her. Even though she’s this dominant person on the field, she’s just a little kid having fun. I see her as my little sister. I definitely care about her a lot.”
Both players give Kryjewski credit for lifting the program.
“I’ve learned everything from Coach Chris,” Roche said. “From cradling the ball, to catching, to ing.”
Kryjewski started a South Bay club lacrosse team in 2021. Because of the similar stick skills required, lacrosse athletes often play field hockey. He began coaching Castle Park’s field hockey team in 2022.
The late Robert Blas, Eastlake’s former girls lacrosse coach, served as a mentor for Kryjewski.
“He showed me the bigger picture, growing the game and also uplifting a community that was in need,” said Kryjewski.
Kryjewski played an instrumental role in the CIF San Diego Section adding a Division 3 to the playoffs last season. While the South Bay qualified just two teams combined in Open, Division 1 and Division 2, five teams represented the region in Division 3.
The Trojans are seeded No. 1 in the Division 3 playoffs this season and have a first-round bye. They host the winner of Tri-City Christian-Mission Bay on Friday.
“His mission has been to build up the South Bay in lacrosse,” Baker said. “Not a lot of people want to do that.”
There was another fork in the road on Kryjewski’s path to ing on football and sticking to lacrosse. It came in 2021, when he was an assistant coach at an elite lacrosse tournament in Baltimore that featured top NCAA coaches.
Looking back, he said: “That’s when I woke up one day and didn’t miss football. That’s when I knew I was done.”
Norcross is a freelance writer
