2011 Season
A 10-9 campaign in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League under coach Paul Murtha, with a six-game win streak down the stretch
Coach Murtha addresses the team during a night game at Watsonville. Photo: Jared Chandler
The 2010 championship banner hung in the gym, but it carried weight on the field too. Every opponent in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League circled Aptos on the schedule, and every game felt like a statement. Coach Paul Murtha returned a potent offense led by junior Cooper Ashworth, who would emerge as one of the most dominant individual scorers in program history. Ashworth finished the season with a staggering 87 points on 58 goals and 29 assists, more than doubling the output of any teammate. Junior Sage Parker provided a dangerous second option with 40 points, while Tyler Pryce and Colton Lawler rounded out the scoring with 19 and 16 points respectively.
The overall record told a complicated story. The non-league schedule was merciless. Serra, Saratoga, and Pacific Grove all hung double digits on the Mariners. A one-goal loss to Mitty (8-9) showed Aptos could compete, but losses to Pacific Collegiate and Pacific Grove — by seven goals each — exposed the gap between the SCCAL and the peninsula powers. A heartbreaking one-goal loss to Watsonville (11-12) and a blowout defeat at Saint Francis (6-14) added to the struggles. But Aptos was a different team in SCCAL play, where only unbeaten Scotts Valley could match them.
Then the Mariners caught fire. A 15-1 rout of Harbor showed the offense clicking, but an 11-6 loss to Scotts Valley at home confirmed the Falcons' dominance — it would be the last league loss of the regular season. From there, Aptos reeled off six straight wins. Santa Cruz went down 10-3. Back-to-back wins over Soquel — 15-5 and a 13-0 shutout — gave way to a 16-2 rout of Santa Cruz, a quality 7-6 non-league win at Los Altos, and a 17-2 demolition of Harbor to close the regular season. By season's end, the Mariners had posted a 10-9 overall record and a 6-2 league mark, good for second place behind Scotts Valley's spotless 8-0. The defending champs were battle-tested and heading into the postseason with momentum.
The SCCAL postseason tournament was where championships were won, and the Mariners knew exactly what was at stake. Despite their 6-2 regular-season record placing them second behind Scotts Valley's unbeaten 8-0 campaign, Aptos had won the previous year's tournament and believed they could do it again. The path would not be easy — a 14-2 loss to the Falcons late in the regular season served as a stark reminder of the gap between the league's top two teams on any given day.
The Mariners opened the SCCAL tournament with a 16-2 demolition of Harbor. Cooper Ashworth was magnificent, scoring five goals and adding two assists to lead the attack. Sage Parker contributed a hat trick and two assists of his own, and the depth of the Aptos roster was on full display as nine different Mariners found the back of the net. It was exactly the kind of complete team effort that had been building through that late-season win streak. A 15-2 semifinal win over Santa Cruz set up the championship showdown everyone expected: Aptos versus Scotts Valley for the SCCAL title.
Scotts Valley had demolished Aptos 14-2 just two weeks earlier, and the Falcons expected a repeat. But this was a different team — one forged by that late-season win streak, one that had proven it could beat anyone in the league. The final score read 10-9, Aptos, in a game that would echo through program history for years. It was the kind of gutsy, resilient performance that defined this team — a squad that had been outmatched all spring by non-league opponents but saved its best for the biggest stage. The victory gave the Mariners their second consecutive SCCAL championship, confirming that the 2010 title was no fluke. Under Coach Murtha, Aptos was building something special — year two of what would become an unprecedented five-year dynasty of SCCAL dominance. Ashworth would go on to play at Oregon, while Cody Gradone earned All-WCLL honors at San Jose State — early proof that Aptos was producing college-caliber players.
| Team | Overall | League |
|---|---|---|
| Scotts Valley | 12-7 | 8-0 |
| Aptos | 10-9 | 6-2 |
| Soquel | 3-5 | 3-4 |
| Santa Cruz | 1-13 | 1-5 |
| Harbor | 0-10 | 0-7 |
| San Lorenzo Valley | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Matchup | Score | Time |
|---|---|---|
Away vs. Junipero Serra Padres |
12-4 | L |
Home vs. Archbishop Mitty Monarchs |
9-8 | L |
Home vs. Saratoga Falcons |
14-5 | L |
Home vs. Pacific Grove Breakers |
17-10 | L |
Home vs. Pacific Collegiate Pumas |
11-4 | L |
Home vs. Watsonville Wildcatz |
12-11 | L |
Away vs. Saint Francis Lancers |
14-6 | L |
Home vs. Harbor Pirates |
15-1 | W |
Home vs. Scotts Valley Falcons |
11-6 | L |
Home vs. Santa Cruz Cardinals |
10-3 | W |
Home vs. Soquel Knights |
15-5 | W |
|
Home vs. Soquel Knights |
13-0 | W |
|
Away vs. Santa Cruz Cardinals |
16-2 | W |
Away vs. Los Altos Eagles |
7-6 | W |
|
Away vs. Harbor Pirates |
17-2 | W |
|
Away vs. Scotts Valley Falcons |
14-2 | L |
|
Away vs. Harbor Pirates |
16-2 | W |
|
Away vs. Santa Cruz Cardinals |
15-2 | W |
|
Away vs. Scotts Valley Falcons |
10-9 | W |
22 players
| # | Name | Position | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weston White | Jr. | ||
| Nick Greene | Jr. | ||
| Cody Gradone | Jr. | ||
| Steven Tao | Jr. | ||
| Sage Parker | Jr. | ||
| Blake Kenerson | Fr. | ||
| Brandon Fraley | Jr. | ||
| Colton Lawler | Jr. | ||
| Justin Brentlinger | Sr. | ||
| Tyler Pryce | Jr. | ||
| Ian Lewis | So. | ||
| Tyler Sweeney | So. | ||
| Josh Wagoner | Jr. | ||
| Ryan Corley | Jr. | ||
| John Yvanovich | Jr. | ||
| Natasha Murtha | Jr. | ||
| Jeremy Medina | Jr. | ||
| Anthony Gorman | Jr. | ||
| James Nartates | Jr. | ||
| Isaac Destout | Jr. | ||
| Chaise Lathrop | Sr. | ||
| Cooper Ashworth | Jr. |
