Daily Pilot High School Athlete of the Week:

Hugh Russell didn’t hesitate for a second when asked what it takes to be a great goalie in lacrosse.

It was as if a ball came at him and he was there to punch it away.

“You have to have a mental toughness, even more than being physical,” said Russell, a Corona del Mar High senior. “You have to be prepared to be a leader. You have to be able to have a short memory. But overall it’s a mental toughness you have to have.”

Going up against nemesis Foothill, Russell knew he had to be mentally tough. Sure he was nervous for the big game Saturday at Peninsula Park. But once the action started, he was ready to defend his goal and help the Sea Kings beat the Knights.

In just his second varsity start, Russell, the Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week, recorded 18 saves. CdM needed every one of them as it scored an emotional 7-6 overtime win.

“It was a really fun game,” said Russell, who leads the Sea Kings into tonight’s Battle of the Bay at Newport Harbor at 7. “It was probably the most fun game I’ve had playing lacrosse.”

Russell has been playing lacrosse since he was in the sixth grade. He said he enjoyed it from the start. Back then he joined a club team with his friends. When he saw that no one was wanting to play goalie, he stepped up because he saw it as a chance to gain more playing time.

But playing goalie kept him away from the action more than he would’ve liked last year. He was the backup to Andrew Noto. Russell watched as CdM reached the U.S. Lacrosse Southern Section Orange County title game only to lose to Foothill.

“You’re there watching your friends and that’s who you’ve been playing with for a long time,” Russell said. “To watch us lose and not be able to do anything, it was hard, but it was helpful mentally.”

Russell said he worked on different aspects of his game during the off-season, including passing. He also worked on communication with his teammates. It all helped in the second game of the season.

After Ryan Mix scored the game-winning goal 28 seconds into sudden-death overtime, the Sea Kings wildly celebrated. Then Coach G.W. Mix talked about his goalie’s performance, saying it was the best he had seen at CdM.

“He stayed poised and stayed composed,” G.W. Mix said. “For a first-year starter, that’s an awfully big game to have as your second game. He came up big. When we really needed a stop he got it for us.”

The coach also appreciated how Russell took advantage of the Knights’ disregard for the CdM goalie’s passing skills.

“[The Knights] challenged him right out of the gate,” G.W. Mix said. “They said to us, ‘We don’t think your goalie can clear the ball on his own,’ and they let him do it. They found out pretty quickly that he can do that as well.

“He played like a goalie who has a lot of experience and, ironically, he doesn’t.”

Russell learned as much as he could last year, backing up Noto. The goalies hung out away from the game. Russell said Noto deserved to be the starter, but Russell believed he could be just as good as Noto.

This year, Russell can prove it