Daily Journal Boys’ Lacrosse Player of the Year: Sacred Heart Prep’s John Barnds

He was a key cog in the Gators’ run to the 2025 Central Coast Section championships, beating nemesis St. Ignatius. 2026 wasn’t nearly as kind, as SHP lost all three matchups to the Wildcats this season, including a 10-5 defeat in the 2026 title game.

But that didn’t diminish an outstanding season for Barnds, who finished with 73 goals, setting a new school single-game scoring record along the way. He also helped lead a young Gators squad through a rugged non-league and West Catholic Athletic League schedule and still managed to make the CCS finals.

For his efforts, Barnds is the Daily Journal Boys’ Lacrosse Player of the Year. He joins older brother Tommy, a 2019 SHP graduate who was the Daily Journal Lacrosse Player of the Year in both 2018 and 2019.

But more than the success in the scorebook or in the win-loss column, Barnds was most proud of the way the Gators grew this season — both as a team and individually.

“In my years here, I don’t think we faced as much adversity as we did this year,” said Barnds, who will following in his family’s footsteps and continue his playing career at Princeton University next year.

“At the start, it was very difficult because we had to figure out how to get all these young players on the same page. They did a good job of that. We didn’t get the end result we wanted, but the process and grind was the most beneficial of any of the seasons (I played at SHP).”

As a senior and a captain, Barnds knew that he would be looked upon to not only lead the team in the locker room, but also on the field. To that end, Barnds, a midfielder, thought he needed to do and be everything to everyone.

“He was a marked man,” said SHP head coach Chris Rotelli. “Every team we played, he was far and way our best player on offense and [the opposing teams] would do everything to stop him.”

“At the start, I wanted to be a one-man army. Do everything,” Barnds said. “But as the season went along, for the team to do more, I had to do less. As a result, I scored more.”

Admitting it was hard to change his mindset initially, he eventually settled in to become one of the most dangerous offensive players in the CCS.

“He was so good at making plays. He was unstoppable at times,” Rotelli said. “He would play his biggest in the biggest moments.

“He’s athletically superior to most. He’s a great player.”

But Barnds was hardly one dimensional. The demands of the midfield role does not allow for a singular focus, with defense being half of the job, as well. A midfielder has the ability to impact the game in numerous ways and that’s what drew Barnds to the position.

“What makes a good midfielder is you have to be … versatile and know a lot of things,” Barnds said. “I had to learn some parts of my team’s defense, in case I got caught back there. I needed to know this stuff.

“I was put at midfield because there were a lot of things that I could do that other guys couldn’t.”

One of those is possessing a shot in excess of 100 mph — something he discovered at a club tournament where hardest shot contest was held. On his first attempt, he hit 102, which was the fastest of the day, to that point. When he came back the next day, he saw someone had hit 103 on the radar gun.

Challenge accepted. Barnds hit 103 on his next shot and 105 on his third overall attempt.

While he would not approach that speed in game conditions, he did say that having a hard shot is definitely an advantage. He was nearly automatic from about 15 yards out.

“[Having a hard shot] means the defense has to come out and play me more and it opens it up for my teammates,” Barnds said.

And when he did let loose a shot?

“I can just blow it by them,” Barnds said.

And when Barnds was allowed just focus on the attack, he was lethal. He was put into an attacking position only a couple times this season, but on one of those occasions, Barnds made school and state history. Facing Sacred Heart Cathedral in a WCAL match, a fast start to the game led to a record-setting day.

“It was Senior Day. … It was game I played attack. The stars were aligned and I was getting more (scoring) opportunities than I normally would. In the first quarter, I got five goals. At that point I said, ‘I’m going for it,’” Barnds said.

“It” was the school record for most goals in one game and by the time he was lifted from the game midway through the fourth quarter, Barnds had a school record 12 goals and tied the state record with 15 points, adding three assists in a lopsided win.

“I’m grateful [Rotelli] let me get that 12th goal. I really wanted that goals record. Each one of my brothers had that record (during their SHP careers),” Barnds said.”Tommy set a new record with eight, Billy broke it with nine. I wanted to beat that and bring it (the record) back to the family.

“My dad always tells me to be more selfish. So this game, I fully embraced that.”