The Piedmont High School boys lacrosse team has a new coach this year, but it’s a familiar face. Paul Pappas graduated from Piedmont in 2020 and went on to the University of Arizona. Now, he’s back in town and just got named head coach.
He’ll be the third coach in three years for the Highlanders.
“Revolving door of Piedmont coaches,” Pappas said. “But I’m hoping to give the kids some stability.
“It’s just awesome being back in the Piedmont lacrosse space and community.”
Pappas was originally planning to help out with the team. But he has been coaching for a couple of years now and is ready to step up for the Highlanders.
He has a lot of talent to work with.
“We have kids who want to play,” Pappas said. “We have some standouts who will make my job easier but we have a lot of younger kids who haven’t played much lacrosse.”
Senior goalkeeper Gus von Metzsch is playing Pappas’s old position.
“He’s going to be the rock of our defense,” Pappas said, adding that von Metzsch is mentoring a freshman defender on the team, Jax Edward Thayer.
Senior defender Ethan Alering is another rock.
“He’ll be extremely good this year too with what it takes to push transition,” Pappas said.
Senior attacker Brendan Devine is a left-handed attack.
“He comes from a big lacrosse family,” Pappas said. “He’s really gritty he knows what to do and how to do it right.”
Junior midfielder Timmy Kalamas is a versatile player.
“He’s kind of our Swiss Army Knife,” Pappas said. “I’m happy that I get him for two years.”
The Highlanders will also benefit from two excellent athletes who are new to lacrosse: Cash Elmquist and Xavier Henderson. Both were strong players on Piedmont’s football team in the fall.
“They just wanted to join because the team is going to be really fun this year,” Pappas said. He added that they will be defensive midfielders.
A couple of sophomores are on the rise as well: Owen Curran and Connor Fredericks.
Of Curran, Pappas said, “He’s very undersized but he does all the little things right. He’s someone I have high expectations of. He has done nothing but impress.”
Of Fredericks, “He’s our guy on offense, he’s getting a bunch of goals for us, he’s getting a bunch of assists, he’s winning faceoffs for us. He’s an absolute stud.”
Pappas expects Bishop O’Dowd and Berkeley to be strong this year. The Yellowjackets won the league last year with the Dragons second and the Highlanders third.
“We’re focusing on league first,” Pappas said. “Stacking our goals, making sure that we can get one place at a time. For the coaches, we as players never lost league. We won league four years in a row. That’s an expectation that we had that we want to bring back into the culture.
“We’re a bunch of young coaches who want to get back to winning.”
Piedmont opened the season on February 25 with a 20-1 win over visiting Washington. Kalamas and Ian Nguyen each scored four goals to lead the Highlanders while Fredericks had three. Devine, Alering, Ryan Graham and Landon Heppner each had two and von Metzsch had one. Fredericks and Devine each had three assists while Kalamas and Nguyen had two apiece.
On March 4, Piedmont lost at Amador Valley, 10-4. Fredericks had two goals while Kalamas and Milo Stevenson had one apiece. Von Metzsch had 13 saves.
Hunter Selkow led the Dons with four goals while Owen Heck had three. Henry Wanis, Adam Castro and Evan Soares each had one.