Perfection in League

Building Momentum

Coach Paul Murtha's Mariners entered the 2010 season with growing confidence. The program had come a long way from its early years, and this roster had the talent to make a statement. Cooper Ashworth was the most prolific scorer on the roster. Zack Powell combined goal-scoring and playmaking at an elite level. Carson Evers orchestrated the offense as the team's primary distributor. Luke Murtha, the coach's son, added another dangerous weapon to a lineup that could beat opponents in multiple ways.

The Mariners opened the season strong, rattling off early wins against Pacific Collegiate (11-10), Pacific Grove (8-2), Carmel, and Saratoga (11-7). They showed offensive firepower in a 16-11 win over Scotts Valley and defensive dominance in a 15-1 rout of Santa Cruz. A 7-19 loss at Stevenson was a reminder of the gap between SCCAL dominance and the section's best, but within their league the Mariners were untouchable — they responded with a 13-5 win over Soquel and kept rolling.

By mid-March, the Mariners had established themselves as the clear class of the SCCAL. The offense was clicking behind Ashworth's relentless scoring and Evers' vision as a distributor. Aptos was winning SCCAL games by comfortable margins — 16-11 over Scotts Valley, 15-1 over Santa Cruz, 13-5 over Soquel — and looked like the clear class of the league. The early returns suggested this team had the balance and depth to do something no Aptos team had done before: run the table in league play.

The Harbor Statement

By late March, the Mariners were rolling at 8-1 overall and a perfect 4-0 in SCCAL play. The team's one loss had come against Stevenson, a perennial power from outside their league. Within the SCCAL, no one had come close to stopping the Aptos attack. On March 26, the Mariners traveled to Harbor and delivered one of their most complete performances of the season in a 15-3 victory that improved them to 9-1 and 5-0 in league.

Four different Mariners scored three or more goals in the Harbor game, showcasing the balanced attack that made Aptos so difficult to defend. Cooper Ashworth and Luke Murtha each tallied four goals, while Carson Evers and Zack Powell added three apiece. Aptos led just 3-2 after the first quarter, then erupted for 11 unanswered goals to blow the game open. "We were able to get out on the break, and that was huge because we were very successful at finding the net off it," Evers said after the game. "Props to our defense."

Coach Murtha, characteristically focused on improvement even in a blowout win, wanted more from his team. "I feel we played a solid game and we did everything 95 percent right, but we needed to pick up the other five percent," he said. That relentless pursuit of perfection was pushing the Mariners to play their best lacrosse as the season's second half approached. The team continued to roll through league competition, beating San Lorenzo Valley 16-3, Carmel 16-3, and Harbor again 14-3 in a second matchup. Every game reinforced the same message: Aptos was the undisputed best team in the SCCAL.

A Perfect League Season

As April turned to May, the Mariners had their sights set on a historic achievement. No Aptos team had ever finished a league season undefeated, and with a 9-0 SCCAL record, one final regular-season league game stood between this team and perfection. The lone blemishes on the record were nonleague tests against superior opponents — including a 12-7 loss to Archbishop Mitty in late March, a game in which Ashworth netted his 32nd goal of the year, Powell scored three times to reach 30 goals, and Murtha added three more. Those defeats only sharpened the Mariners' resolve in league play.

On April 30, the Mariners traveled to Scotts Valley for what became a celebration of everything Coach Murtha had built. Aptos dismantled the Falcons 18-4 to complete a perfect 10-0 SCCAL regular season. Luke Murtha was sensational, pouring in six goals and adding two assists. Cooper Ashworth continued his prolific campaign with four goals, Sage Parker contributed two goals and three assists, and Zack Powell chipped in two goals and two assists. The offensive balance that had defined the season was on full display in its final league game.

The victory produced one of the most memorable moments in program history. Natasha Murtha, the coach's daughter, entered the game and scored a goal, becoming the first female to score in SCCAL competition. Coach Murtha later told the Sentinel that she was the first girl to score a goal in a game in Santa Cruz County history. It was a fitting moment for a family that had poured everything into building the Mariners program. Behind the scenes, Nicole Murtha attended every fundraiser and every game, part of the family's four-member core that had scored goals, raised funds, and completely overhauled the program.

The dominance continued into the postseason. In the SCCAL tournament semifinal, Aptos crushed San Lorenzo Valley 14-0 behind Luke Murtha's seven goals and Sage Parker's six goals and three assists, while goalkeepers John Nagamine and Nick Gizdich combined for the shutout.

That set up a championship showdown at Scotts Valley — a team the Mariners had already beaten twice that season. Playing on the Falcons' home turf, Aptos left no doubt, rolling to a 15-7 victory to claim the program's first SCCAL Tournament championship. The win capped a season in which the Mariners never lost a league game.

The Sentinel published a feature article on Coach Murtha and his family on May 12, chronicling how he had taken the program from just one win in its early days to the first perfect SCCAL record in program history. The 2010 Mariners finished 16-4 overall and 11-0 in league, powered by a quartet of offensive stars: Ashworth's 60 goals, Powell's 75 points (54 goals, 21 assists), Evers' 34 assists and all-around offensive impact, and Luke Murtha's 39 goals. Their 244 total goals remain the most any Aptos team has ever scored in a single season. Their four losses all came against non-league opponents, a testament to how thoroughly they dominated their conference. This was the season that proved Aptos lacrosse had arrived — the first SCCAL championship in program history, and the beginning of what would become an unprecedented five-year dynasty.

Three players from this roster went on to play college lacrosse: Luke Murtha at UC Santa Barbara (MCLA D-I), Carson Evers at Cal Poly SLO, and Zack Powell at BYU. It was the first time multiple Aptos players had continued the sport beyond high school — another sign that the Murtha era had changed what was possible for lacrosse in Aptos.