Athlete of the Week: Von Der Ahe leads CdM

Stephen Von Der Ahe used to play two sports at Corona del Mar High, football in the fall and lacrosse in the spring.

Two years ago, toward the end of his sophomore year, Von Der Ahe decided to become a one-sport athlete. One game, one pass forced him to stick to one sport.

The sport he chose was the one with the stick.

The way that game ended would make most believe Von Der Ahe would continue with football, not lacrosse. The game and pass Von Der Ahe has never forgotten took place in the semifinals of the U.S. Lacrosse Southern Section South Division playoffs.

With 35 seconds left and CdM trailing JSerra by one, the Sea Kings had the man-up advantage. They failed to capitalize, and to this day, Von Der Ahe blames only one person.

“I threw the ball away,” Von Der Ahe said of the pass he delivered near the restraining line to Ben Palitz, who cut toward him from the crease. “I threw it over [Palitz’] head, their goalie gets it, and then they call timeout. Then we resume play and then their goalie throws it up in the air [during a bad clearance]. Our player gets it and shoots it with like five seconds left. The goalie makes a wonderful [one-on-one] save, and then they just chuck it down the field and they stormed the field.

“I was probably … going to play for [the] football [team again], but just the feeling I had my sophomore year, after we lost to JSerra, [9-8], in the semifinals, the feeling I had on the bus driving home, I kind of feel like I was the part of the reason why we lost that game. So I just kind of said to myself, ‘I don’t want to ever feel this feeling again,’ and that’s when I just stuck with lacrosse.”

Since that contest, Von Der Ahe hasn’t lost much, just once in his last 26 games. He has been a big reason for the Sea Kings’ success during the stretch.

Von Der Ahe has CdM, ranked No. 4 in the state by laxpower.com, undefeated through the first seven games of this season. The one team that handed the Sea Kings their lone setback a year ago, coming in the U.S. Lacrosse Southern Section South Division semifinals for the second straight time, traveled to CdM on Tuesday.

Von Der Ahe led CdM back at home against the Tartans, who recorded the first three goals in the affair. The Sea Kings roared back, taking their first lead on an assist from Von Der Ahe to Nate Neumann in the waning seconds before halftime.

Someone told Von Der Ahe that these days he’s making those precise passes. He laughed when he heard that a day after CdM edged the Tartans, 8-7.

“Stephen represents the culture of our program,” CdM Coach G.W. Mix said. “He has worked extremely hard to be in a position to effectively lead and serve his teammates when the time came for him to do so.

“He is a selfless, humble young man and seems to be comfortable and having a lot of fun being in a position where his teammates depend on him.”

Von Der Ahe, a 6-foot-3 midfielder and attacker, has been more of a scorer, producing a team-high 26 goals. Twice this year he has turned in six-goal performances in front of the home fans.

The first happened on March 11 in an 11-10 win against Salt Lake City Brighton, the top-ranked team in Utah. The latest came last week in CdM’s 20-3 win in the Battle of the Bay game against archrival Newport Harbor.

Beating the Sailors is nothing new for Von Der Ahe and his family. His older brother, Chris, played for CdM and graduated in 2013. A Von Der Ahe has been a part of eight of the Sea Kings’ 13 straight wins against Newport Harbor.

“The Battle of the Bay for all the other sports [is] kind of like a huge rivalry,” Stephen said, “but it’s never been that big of a rivalry in lacrosse.”

What has meant a lot to the younger Von Der Ahe is following in his brother’s footsteps. He chose to wear the older Von Der Ahe’s No. 12 jersey number when he moved up to varsity as a sophomore.

The two never played together at CdM, the oldest was a senior when the youngest was a freshman. During their time with the Sea Kings, their mother, Susan, handled the team’s public relations. She gathered the stats, arranged the interviews, and updated the local media after each game.

This year, Susan decided to step away from that role.

“She just wanted to watch me play my last year,” Stephen said with a smile.

Susan might be sending another son to Indiana University, where Chris played on the men’s club lacrosse team for a year before focusing on his academics. Stephen said he’s thinking about attending Indiana, one of two schools that he’s interested in. The other is Colorado.

Chris has been following Stephen’s season online and on social media. The biggest win so far for CdM has been the 16-13 result against Foothill at Tustin High on March 19.

The last time these two powerhouse programs met was in 2012, when Chris was a junior. Chris, a midfielder, helped the Sea Kings defeat Foothill, 7-5, in the semifinals of the U.S. Lacrosse Southern Section South Division playoffs, ending the Knights’ run of five consecutive South Division and Southern Section titles.

Stephen, an eighth-grader at the time, went to that game. He then witnessed the rest of CdM’s historic run, which included South Division and Southern Section crowns, and a perfect 24-0 season.

Before Stephen’s final season with CdM, Chris offered him some advice.

“He always talks about the championship game, the perfect season,” Stephen said. “He said this is like the thing he remembers about high school. It’s not like those big parties or whatever. It’s playing sports with all your best friends.”

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Stephen Von Der Ahe

Born: Oct. 30, 1997

Hometown: Newport Beach

Height: 6-foot-3

Weight: 185 pounds

Sport: Lacrosse

Year: Senior

Coach: G.W. Mix

Favorite food: Spaghetti

Favorite movie: “Southpaw”

Favorite athletic moment: “When we beat Foothill, [16-13, on March 19].”

Week in review: Von Der Ahe finished with six goals in the Sea Kings’ 20-3 win against archrival Newport Harbor in the Battle of the Bay game.