When fraternal twins Luke and Jake Skopec were 6 years old, their uncles gave them unique birthday presents.
Lacrosse sticks.
The uncles, also fraternal twins, played the game and thought the boys would enjoy something different.
It proved to a portent of the future as the boys soon got bored with the slow pace of standing in the outfield playing baseball, waiting for something — anything — to happen. Compared to lacrosse, the pace crawled.
“Yes, it was kind of slow,” said Luke, two minutes younger than Jake. “Lacrosse had a lot more action, like basketball, and lacrosse was a lot of fun.”
There was another advantage, of course.
“It’s nice to have a teammate like Luke around all the time,” said Jake, a junior like his brother. “We played together a lot and in lacrosse (like most sports) you need to put in the work to get better.”
The two have certainly gotten better, leading Del Norte to a glittering 13-1 record heading into Thursday’s season finale against San Dieguito Academy with the Palomar League title on the line.
Both were instrumental in helping the Nighthawks advance to the Division 2 championship a year ago, but the sting of losing to Point Loma, 8-7, with just seconds to play, motivated the pair with the result that their only loss this season came to Carlsbad, 8-2.
By marching to the title game and returning all but a handful of their players, Del Norte looks to be one of the top four seeds in the Division 1 playoffs, which start Monday.
Luke, who has been on the varsity all three years, is the team’s leading scorer with 26 goals and also the front-runner with 21 assists. Jake, whom coach BJ Wroten kept on the junior varsity as a freshman to give him more playing time, has 18 goals and nine assists.
The two are part of seven attack players who have scored in double figures as the Nighthawks have outscored their opponents 161-44.
“Losing last year in the championships was tough and we made a few mental mistakes that cost us,” said Jake, who is right-handed as opposed to Luke, who is a lefty. “But the thing about this year’s team is we have a lot of players who can come in and score.”
Luke agrees and adds another element.
“We have great team chemistry this year,” said Luke, who is one of the captains. “One of the real strengths of the team is the defense.”
Wroten said because of the depth and balance, the Nighthawks are playing a different style this season.
“Most teams get the ball down and try to score right away,” said the veteran coach. “This year we slowed down the game, sometimes ing the ball for up to five minutes before we get off a shot. We’ve told the players not to take a shot unless it’s a good one.
“We’re very patient and most of these guys have played together for five, six years and know each other’s strengths. That’s especially true of Luke and Jake who it seems sometimes know just what the other one is going to do before they do it.”
While Luke attacks from the side, Jake plays behind the goal in what’s called the X position, where he can see the whole field and either set up the offense or move around to the front to sneak the ball past the goalie.
Since both players are attackers, they are part of three who have to stay on their side of midfield. Three defenders stay on the opposite side of the field and the twins agree that the defense is the key to not just preventing goals but starting the attack.
The three midfielders can go to either side of the field but never more than six at once. The Nighthawks use their deep bench to bring in fresh players on the run, like a line change in ice hockey.
Luke, who is 6-foot tall, and Jake, who is 5-10, complement each other but like being a lefty and righty, they have their differences. Luke has a more analytical approach and favors math while Jake is a little more daring and prefers history.
But one thing is certain, both plan to continue playing lacrosse as long as they can — like their uncles.
