Florida Lacrosse Store Blog

Head coach Mindy McCord and her brand new women’s lacrosse team...

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:00:22 -0400

Head coach Mindy McCord and her brand new women’s lacrosse team will be heading down to Gainesville, Fla. this weekend to compete in the UF Invitational. The Dolphins will face Rollins and the Gators in the three team round robin event.

“We’re very excited to finally play in a competitive game,” said head coach Mindy McCord. We’re facing some great competition this weekend and it’ll be a nice opportunity for our players to really get to know each other‘s playing styles on the field.”

The Dolphins will face the Gators at noon and then will take on the Tars around 2 p.m.

Tampa Bay Fire's 2010 Lacrosse Combine

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 09:28:43 -0400

Tampa Bay Fire’s 2010 Combine to launch exciting innovations at this year’s tryouts The Tampa Bay Fire is recognized as one of the first elite lacrosse clubs nationally to implement the combine concept as part of it’s tryout process. This year’s event will be marked by the launch of some of the most innovative concepts seen in lacrosse in years!

Planned upgrades to the Fire’s player development system (PDS) will keep the organization at the forefront of elite lacrosse program delivery for years to come, and lock in it’s reputation as the only elite lacrosse club in West Florida. Stay tuned for this year’s announcement and spread the word. It will be here shortly! source: tampabay fire’s website tbfire.com

List of Legal Lacrosse Heads for 2010

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:18:00 -0400

By now you should be aware that beginning January 1, 2010, all lacrosse stick heads used in NCAA play must meet a new set of dimensions, according to an NCAA press release referring to the rule change. Measuring from the throat up, at the 1.25-inch, and 3-inch marks the stick must be 3 inches wide. At the 5-inch mark, the stick must be 3.5-4 inches wide on that front and 3.5 inches wide on the back. At the head’s widest point, it must be 6-6.5 inches on the front, and 6 inches on the back. All of these measurements are minimum dimensions, so heads may exceed theses specifications and be wider, but they may not be more narrow.

The change was made to promote the free dislodgement of the ball, said Ty Halpin, the NCAA’s associate director of rules administration. The hope is to even the playing field between offensive and defensive players some.

“It’s much harder than it used to be to get the ball out,” Halpin said. “We don’t want it to be because of the equipment…It certainly makes sense that if you widen the opening of the crosse the ball will come out more easily…The other key piece is balancing offense and defense in the game.”

The NCAA hopes to also promote safety with the new rule, Halpin said. If it is easier for a defender to dislodge the ball, then he wont have to be as forceful while checking the attacking player, decreasing relentless slashing in pursuit of the ball or just from frustration.

Warrior Sports announced in September a lawsuit against the NCAA, challenging many of the NCAA Rules Committee’s claims and hoping to prevent the new specifications from going into effect in 2010.

Warrior contends that the NCAA produced little data supporting the theory that a wider head would promote freer dislodgement of the ball, said Tom Burns, a Warrior product manager. The company was also alarmed that this was the third rule change since 2007 involving sticks. Retooling and redesigning for the production of new heads to meet these specifications will be an expensive and time consuming process that Warrior feels is an unfair burden.

“The majority of heads that we’ve studied in the market do not comply to 2010 standards,” Burns said. “This rule impacts everyone in the industry.”

With so much uncertainty surrounding the new specs, consumers have been left in a quandary over the legality of current equipment, Burns said.

“One of the big things with this 2010 rule is just the amount of confusion out there,” Burns said.

That uncertainty begins to clear as more leagues and governing bodies vote on the adoption of these rules. While the NCAA’s ruling will affect all varsity collegiate programs, the trickle down to the high school level might not be that dramatic.

“The revised stick specifications adopted by the NCAA do not apply to the high school level as the [National Federation of State High School Associations] has adopted no changes in stick specifications,” said Kent Summers, the assistant director of NFHS. “Thus, lacrosse played using NFHS lacrosse rules will be unaffected by the NCAA rule change…We have discussed it the past two years, and they did not favor the revision on either occasion.”

According to a survey conducted by NFHS of state associations from 2006-2007, 71,524 boys played high school lacrosse at 1,588 schools in 22 states that participate with NFHS. According to US Lacrosse’s numbers from 2007, nearly 120,000 boys play high school lacrosse. While they may not all be recognized or accounted for by the NFHS, most play under NFHS rule, so most players will not be affected by the change.

Some leagues that do not participate with NFHS rules follow NCAA rules instead, such as the highly touted Maryland Interscholastic Athletics Association. The MIAA has made no official decision yet, but they will likely stay on par with NCAA rules, said Bob Shriver, head coach of The Boys’ Latin School in Maryland.

“We will likely adopt the new rules,” Shriver said. “Our league, the MIAA, typically will adjust some of the NCAA rules to meet our particular concerns…We may not adopt a rule like that because of money implications. So, if the new stick rule is out, we may allow our kids a year or two to make the change so the financial impact isn’t so severe.”

If a league or association will adopt the rule, most will not make a concrete decision until meetings either following the 2008 season or preceding the 2009 season. But, if the NFHS maintains its decision not to adopt the new specifications, which it seems inclined to do, most high school boys will be able to continue using the same equipment through 2010.

Manufacturers are faced with a challenge and some tough decisions now when approaching the concerns of producing heads for 2010 NCAA play. Roughly 8,700 men play lacrosse in the NCAA at the DI, DII, or DIII level, according to statistics compiled through the lax.com database. Almost 2,400 of those players at the DI level, where many programs are sponsored and receive equipment for free or for a markedly reduced price. That leaves a very small market for manufacturers to pursue with 2010 NCAA sticks.

Weighing that against the much larger market of youth and high school players who can continue to use equipment manufacturers are currently producing, some companies may decide it is better to not make heads for 2010 NCAA play and focus on other markets.

“We don’t anticipate that happening,” Halpin said, “and in conversations with manufacturers, many have asked if a stick that meets 2010 specs would be allowed for use in play. That makes us think that some are planning to release 2010 sticks early.”

Despite Warriors objections to the new ruling, if it does remain in place, they intend on creating something to meet the new specifications, Burns said.

“Warrior will make sticks available to both sets of standards,” Burns said. How expansive of a line they explore for 2010 NCAA play will be a decision many manufacturers will need to make in the coming months.

States that have lacrosse programs recognized (and thus governed by) NFHS are: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Misouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia.

FloridaLacrosse.com has new legal lacrosse heads for 2010 including the following which are now available our our internet retail lacrosse store website:
Heads Legal for NCAA ONLY

Brine Voyce X6
Brine Cyber Pro X6
Gait Flow
Gait Showtime
STX Professor
Warrior Evo Pro X6
Warrior Revo Pro X6

Heads Legal for NCAA, NFHS, & Youth

Brine Asset X
Brine Franchise X
Brine Clutch X
Brine Recruit
Brine Edge
Brine Gospel
Gait Torque 3
Gait Bedlom
Maverik Juice (As of the November 2009 mold, all others bought before DO NOT PASS)
Maverik Bazooka
Maverik Vision
Reebok 6K Ill
Reebok 9K Career
STX Super Power
Warrior Evo TI X
Warrior Spyne
Warrior NOZ
Warrior Razer X
Warrior Evo X
Warrior Revo X
Warrior Mojo X
Warrior Joker X

Heads Legal for NFHS & Youth Only

Brine Asset
Brine Franchise
Brine E3
Brine Voyce
Brine Cyber Pro
Brine Clutch
Brine Answer Pro
Brine Verdict
Brine Motive
Brine Rocket
Gait Torque
Gait Nuclear
Gait Triton
Gait Thrust
Gait Havoc
Gait Mutant
Gait Toxic
Gait Fuel
Gait Shockwave
Gait Wizard
Gait Asylum
Gait Silencer
Harrow Crossbow
Harrow H2
STX K18 (New and old Version, BDJ Edit)
STX X3
STX G22
STX Proton Power
STX Revolver
STX Viper 2
STX Xcaliber
STX Deuce
STX Profile
STX Proton+
STX Bionic
STX Source
STX AV8
Warrior Evo TI
Warrior Revo TI
Warrior Helix
Warrior Evo Pro 2.0
Warrior Revo Pro 2.0
Warrior Razor Spyne
Warrior Evo Spyne
Warrior Evo 2.0
Warrior Revo 2.0
Warrior Blade 2.0
Warrior Blade F/O
Warrior Mojo
Warrior Outlaw

New information regarding 2010 legal lacrosse heads! The picture...

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:44:35 -0400

New information regarding 2010 legal lacrosse heads! The picture shows an example of what you should be looking for with the brine and warrior lacrosse head offerings. We’ll have another post shortly with a list of the legal lacrosse heads and where to buy them.

NLL: New York Titans close to making move to… Orlando

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 10:31:09 -0400

orlandolacrossestore:

Source: New York Titans close to making move to… Orlando
July 24th, 2009 by Paul Tutka on NLL Insider Blog

After several months of behind the scenes speculation and a flurry of rumours that have engulfed this summer’s National Lacrosse League off-season, the future of the New York Titans finally seems to be virtually 100% clear.

NLL Insider has learned from numerous sources that the long speculated move of the Titans to Orlando, Florida is looking increasingly likely at this point, ownership crossing T’s and dotting I’s over the past few weeks, nixing the rumoured move that would have had the Titans at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, a destination that was very much a serious full-time option earlier this off-season.

Although all indications are pointing to the Titans making their way to Florida in the very near future, NLL Insider has learned however that the league’s board of governors has yet to vote on the proposed relocation, a vote that the NLL requires before allowing one of their members to move to another city.

You can read the full story about the NY Titans move to Orlando on the NLL insider blog.

WOW! What a game! Syracuse rallies from a three-goal deficit to...

Tue, 26 May 2009 11:06:57 -0400

WOW! What a game! Syracuse rallies from a three-goal deficit to beat Cornell in OT, 10-9.

Congrats to the Orange fans and make sure you check out our Syracuse Lacrosse apparel and Syracuse Lacrosse backyard goal for only $154.95.

Syracuse Orange claims its 11th NCAA Championship

Tue, 26 May 2009 10:53:00 -0400

FOXBORO, Mass. — Cornell showed the heart of a champion, but it was defending national champion Syracuse who used its experience to score the final four goals to rally for a 10-9 overtime victory over the Big Red on Monday afternoon in the Division I national championship game at Gillette Stadium.

Read the full game recap of the NCAA Lacrosse Championship game on LaxPower.

orlandolacrossestore: Duke vs. Syracuse Preview Posted on...

Fri, 22 May 2009 11:01:27 -0400

orlandolacrossestore:

Duke vs. Syracuse Preview
Posted on Inside Lacrosse: 05/20/2009
Mark Dixon previews the first semifinal in Foxboro between Duke and Syracuse.

tampalacrossestore: Cornell vs. Virginia PreviewPosted:...

Fri, 22 May 2009 11:00:35 -0400

tampalacrossestore:

Cornell vs. Virginia PreviewPosted: 05/20/2009
Quint previews the NCAA semifinal game between Cornell and top-ranked Virginia.

The Inside Lacrosse Roundtable make their choices for the 2009...

Fri, 22 May 2009 10:54:42 -0400

The Inside Lacrosse Roundtable make their choices for the 2009 NCAA Champs. Make sure to try and catch some of these games this weekend!

Gillette Stadium Saturday, May 23 | Foxborough, Mass.
ESPN2HD, ESPN360.com
Noon: No. 3 Duke vs. No. 2 Syracuse
2 p.m.: No. 5 Cornell vs. No. 1 Virginia

National Championship
Gillette Stadium
Monday, May 25 | Foxborough, Mass.

2009 NCAA Division I Women’s Lacrosse Championships this weekend!

Thu, 21 May 2009 15:01:00 -0400

Don’t forget about the great college lacrosse on this weekend! Although there aren’t any lacrosse teams from florida playing this weekend, there should be some great games worth watching.

The top four women’s teams will do battle in the NCAA Semifinals on Friday night at Towson University. Northwestern gets another game against Penn, plus there’s an ACC rematch between Maryland and North Carolina.

Semi-Finals:
May 22
GAME 1: Northwestern vs. Penn 6 pm
GAME 2: Maryland vs. North Carolina 8:30 pm

Finals:
May 24
GAME 1 & GAME 2 Winners 5:30 pm

if for some reason you just so happen to find yourself in Maryland this weekend and plan to attend the women’s lacrosse championships- you can download the official fan guide here.

Seminoles Lacrosse Team Advances with 16-10 Win

Wed, 13 May 2009 09:14:00 -0400

The Florida State Seminoles men’s lacrosse team advanced to the National Quarterfinals with a 16-10 victory over #7 Cal Poly. The Seminoles will face #2 BYU on Wednesday at 9 p.m. Eastern.

CollegeLAX.us will continue to provide live coverage of the mcla lacrosse games.

-from FSU Lacrosse:

It was win or go home for the Florida State lacrosse team Tuesday night against California Polytechnic State, and the Seminoles were not about to have their season come to an end. The Tribe and the Mustangs last played each other three years ago in the first round of the National Tournament. In that meeting Cal Poly got the better of the Seminoles and won the game 13-8. FSU got their revenge this year and took the first-round game 16-10 in part by taking the Mustangs out of their own game.

Cal Poly midfielder Matt Rudow is thought of as one of the best at winning faceoffs in the Men’s Colligate Lacrosse Association, but FSU managed to win 12 faceoffs to the Mustangs’ 9. “That was really impressive because their faceoff guy is superb,” FSU assistant coach Matt Waesche said. “That was something that we talked about with our guys—Dave Siegel, Jason Castellanos and Josh Hawes all really stepped up there and helped us. (Cal Poly) won a bunch early in the game and Coach Healey made some adjustments and our guys went out there and executed.”

LSM Jake Hornstein agreed with his coach’s assessment. “That was huge for us. Faceoffs are really important because they help start the offense, and a lot of our guys had a great night with faceoffs.”

The big scorer for the Tribe on the day was attackman Tyler Richey who poured in five goals on the day.
“Richey does a lot of the dirty work for us,” Waesche said. “He does a lot of things that don’t always show up in the stats in terms of goals and assists, but we felt that this was a game that he could help us a lot with scoring. And five goals aren’t too bad in a National Tournament game.”

Richey said of his game, “Coach Harkins talked to me the night before and told me that Cal Poly was weak covering guys sliding to the net. I played a lot of crease attack all year so he told me it was going to be open. I just took advantage of what they gave me.”

FSU won the South Eastern Lacrosse Conference Tournament and finished the regular season 16-2. The Tribe received the No. 10-seed in the National Tournament.

Cal Poly was the winner of the first ever Western Collegiate Lacrosse League Championship, went 12-4 in the regular season and were the seven-seed in the MCLA Tournament.

Both the SELC and WCLL champions did nothing to damage their league’s national reputation with their performance.

“Both teams played aggressively,” Waesche said. “A lot of hard checks and hard fought ground-balls, but still a lot of good transitioning too. It wasn’t just a high-flying game or a grinding game. It was really both.”

FSU held a 5-4 advantage after the first quarter and stretched that lead to 9-5 at halftime. The Mustangs were able to get back within two goals of the ’Noles, but in the end FSU’s balanced scoring attack was too much for the WCLL champs.

The Seminoles had several players besides Richey contribute offensively. Attackman Tom Byrne had three goals and two assists. Fellow attackman Corey Noonan and midfielders Robert Lee and Alex Pettit all had two goals apiece. Midfielder Dave Siegel had two goals to go along with his work taking faceoffs for the team.

“That is the way we usually are,” Hornstein said. “We always have a bunch of different people score, and I really think that is how we play when we are successful.”

Goalie John Goodrich also had 12 saves to help preserve the six-goal victory.

FSU will next play BYU today (Wednesday) at 9 p.m. EST. BYU is the No. 2-seed in the MCLA Tournament and finished the regular season with a 17-3 record. The Seminoles are well known as a high-tempo run-and-gun offensive team, while BYU is more of a ball-control team.

“BYU is much more of a posession team,” Richey said. “They are going to hold the ball and move it around and try and use some time before they shoot. We don’t really waste a lot of time before we try and score. I think the real difference is going to be if our defense can keep up with their passes to disrupt them, and if we do that we should be fine.”

Live Webcast of Florida State vs Cal Poly this Tuesday

Mon, 11 May 2009 10:00:00 -0400

The FSU Seminoles’ first round game at the 2009 MCLA National Championship against the Cal Poly Mustangs will be available by Live Webcast on www.CollegeLAX.us. The Seminoles and Mustangs will play at 7 p.m. MT (9 p.m. Eastern) this coming Tuesday in Denver, Colorado.

For details, please visit www.CollegeLAX.us or go directly to their National Championship section: http://www.collegelax.us/2009/championships/www.CollegeLAX.us or go directly to their National Championship section: http://www.collegelax.us/2009/championships/

CollegeLAX will be providing live blog updates and commentary of all games at the 2009 MCLA National Championship. They will also be webcasting select games each day.

You can view the complete bracket for the MCLA National Championships here.

St. Andrews Scots lacrosse team wins 2009 FHSAA state championship title

Fri, 08 May 2009 09:53:18 -0400

from the Miami Lacrosse Blog:

The St. Andrews Scots Lacrosse team (24-0) finished their undefeated season with a seventh straight state championship title defeating Lake Brantley 19-5 on Saturday, April 25 in Orlando. The Scots have now won 14 state lacrosse titles and have been ranked as high as 9th in the nation this year. Congratulations to Coach Jeff Goldberg and all of his players.

full story on the st. andrews high school lacrosse championship on the palm beach post

Post Your Lacrosse Game Photos on our Websites!

Mon, 04 May 2009 10:45:59 -0400

Do you have any pictures from your team’s season? We’d like to share your moments on the field on our Facebook Fan Page and on our Tampa, Orlando, and Miami regional blogs. The easiest way to post your pics is through Facebook or Flickr (they’re free!).

If you’re already on facebook- upload your game pics to our florida lacrosse fan page or your own photo albums. If you upload your photos to Flickr or another photo sharing website, let us know which one and how to find it. If you need help or you’d like to send us the photo; please email us at info@flalax.com for a photo release form (must have parent signature if under 18) to share your lacrosse game photos. Make sure to let us know your team name, and what school(s) your program represents.If your team has a website , please include the web address so people can find out more about your program.

Make sure to send us some action shots, and feel free to include a description if it was a crucial moment in the game!

FHSAA Boys’ Lacrosse State Semifinals and Finals Predictions…

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0400

Note: These are predictions from my personal witnessing of teams or reports from respected people around the state about the teams playing. None of these picks are intended for gambling or other illegal reasons nor the opinions of Florida Lacrosse & Sports. Please take my choices with a grain of salt, if I am wrong then great job by the winning teams. If I am correct, you’re welcome…Friday’s and Saturday’s Games…

Now for the predictions on the FHSAA State Semifinals games on Friday…

Saint Andrews Scots (District 10) vs. Lake Highland Prep Highlanders (District 8) @ 2:00PM

This matchup features the top private schools from the south and north facing off to move on to the FHSAA State Championship game. The Highlanders come into the game with playoff wins over Timber Creek, Bishop Moore, and Vero Beach featuring an extremely talented starting six offensive players and a goalie that has been taught by Tom Groeninger (Virginia ’91). The Scots from Boca Raton come off a dismantling of Gulliver Prep who is arguably the #2 team in the state. Saint Andrews features a lineup/bench that can beat every team in the South. The starting attack and midfield is loaded with scorers who can both dodge to feed and they can all score at will. Bernie Susskind will be in the cage after missing the prior game verse Lake Highland and the Dartmouth bound goalie will be a huge presence in the cage. The prior results from the two games the teams have already played this year was a 23-3 beating of the Highlanders on March 7th and a April 4th game that was kept close with the Scots pulling away in the 4th quarter for a 12-9 win.

The pick… Saint Andrews scores fast and early and doesn’t stop for a win over Lake Highland Prep by 13 (21-8). The Scots midfield and play in the cage is the difference maker. The Highlanders have issues at times hitting the cage and for a game against this caliber opponent they need to be hitting the cage on at least 80% of their shots and need to convert around 50% of them. Saint Andrews moves on to play the winner of Nease verse Lake Brantley in the FHSAA State Championship Game on Saturday night at 7:30PM at West Orange High School in Winter Garden.

Nease Panthers (District 3) vs. Lake Brantley Patriots (District 5) @ 5:00PM

Defense wins championships. Ask any coach at any level of play in any sport and you will hear the same motto. And the Panthers and Patriots defenses will be putting on a show. The Nease Panthers features an athletic and talented defense with the starting defense all moving on to play D1 Lacrosse and/or Football. Look for Panther goalie Nick Colon to keep up his yearlong hot streak in the cage and be a huge difference maker. The Patriots from Altamonte Springs feature an equally talented and athletic defense featuring Maryland-bound LSM Jesse Bernhardt. Bernhardt’s assignment for Friday night will be to remove Nease midfielder Brett Angerer’s presence on the field. This game looks to be an up and down the field battle that will be won in the scrums, face-offs, and transition rather than in the settled offenses.

The pick… Lake Brantley escapes in dramatic fashion over Nease by 1 in 2OT (7-6) with an assist from Jesse Bernhardt who corrals a groundball off second overtime faceoff, pushes the ball and finds an open attackman who barely sneaks it past Panther goalie Nick Colon. This game was the toughest yet to guess on (yea I said guess, this one will is too evenly matched to say outright who will win) besides the Bishop Moore-Lake Highland Prep game earlier in the playoffs and I wouldn’t put it past the Panthers from Ponte Vedra to pull off the upset. Lake Brantley moves on to play the Scots of Saint Andrews in the FHSAA State Championship Game on Saturday night at 7:30PM at West Orange High School in Winter Garden.

Now for the prediction on the FHSAA State Championship Game on Saturday at 7:30PM…

If my predictions are wrong in the semifinals for the Lake Highland Prep vs. Saint Andrews and/or Nease vs. Lake Brantley game, then I will write another blog with the updated teams…

Saint Andrews Scots (District 10) vs. Lake Brantley Patriots (District 5) @ 7:30PM

Defense wins championships. But offenses make the difference once you get to the game. Two of Florida’s top three defenses will faceoff on Saturday night featuring arguably the best goalie in the state, Saint Andrews’ Bernie Susskind (Gulliver Prep’s JP McCook and Nease’s Nick Colon are my top three), and the best defensive player in the state with Patriots’ LSM Jesse Bernhardt. Look for the Scots to let whoever Bernhardt is covering to not touch the ball and for the other Scots middies to isolate constantly against the other Lake Brantley short-stick midfielders in a very settle offense. The rematch of last years’ state championship game will be a huge test for the Patriots offense who doesn’t have the stud player presence that was found last year with Lake Brantley’s Jake Bernhardt (Maryland ’12 and yes, Jake and Jesse are brothers).

The pick… Saint Andrews wins its 17th State Championship over Lake Brantley by 7 (15-8). The Scots show why they are the #9 ranked team in the nation with phenomenal play at the faceoff X and in the cage. Lake Brantley plays a hard fought game that features their excellent athleticism and physicality, but there are far too many weapons on the Saint Andrews roster and without a gamebreaker on offense and a marquee goalie in the cage for the Patriots the Saint Andrews’ offense finds the cage more often. Great season for both Saint Andrews and Lake Brantley. Someone please have Saint Andrews spend a spring break in Baltimore or Long Island playing the top #15 rated teams in the nation, we want to see the skill of the Scots play the nation’s best and prove that Florida lacrosse is something to look out for. The Saint Andrews Scots will have won the Florida State Championships in 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009.

FHSAA Girls’ Lacrosse State Semifinal Games Predictions…

Vero Beach over Park Vista in the Noon game Friday at West Orange High School in Winter Garden.
Lake Brantley over Winter Springs in the 7:00PM game Friday at West Orange High School in Winter Garden.
FHSAA Girls’ Lacrosse Championship Game Prediction on Saturday at 5:00PM…
Vero Beach wins over Lake Brantley to win the FHSAA Girls’ Lacrosse State Championship.

Next updates… Championship Weekend Summary and OrlandoLacrosse.com’s All-Orlando Team…

Feel free to send me messages on www.twitter.com/OrlandoLax and let me know of any current lacrosse information for the Orlando/Greater Central Florida.

-OrlandoLax

photo above provided from Hammer Sports Photography from the Biship Moore vs Lake Highlands Prep lacrosse playoff game.

Predictions for Friday nights’ Final Four FHSAA Lacrosse playoff games…

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 12:16:03 -0400

orlandolacrossestore:

Now for the predictions for Friday nights’ four FHSAA playoff games…

Note: These are predictions from my personal witnessing of teams or reports from respected people around the state about the teams playing. None of these picks are intended for gambling or other illegal reasons. Please take my choices with a grain of salt, if I am wrong then great job by the winning teams. If I am correct, you’re welcome…Friday’s Games…

Saint Augustine Nease Panthers (District 3) @ Jacksonville Episcopal Eagles (District 2) – 7:00PM

This game to everyone in the state, besides Bolles, looks to be an easy win for the Panthers. Some could say it will be an Episcopal win because Jacksonville Bolles beat Nease 8-4 and then proceeded to lose to the Eagles 9-6 in the playoffs after beating them in the regular season 10-7. After watching Nease play once this year, I was extremely surprised by the actual size and skill of the Nease defense. They are huge! One defenseman is playing lax and football for John Hopkins, another is playing lax for Jacksonville U, and the third is playing football for Jacksonville U and I am sure Coach Kerwick wouldn’t mind seeing him in lacrosse pads for the spring. Even better, if and I mean if they ever get beat or the offense finds and opening they have arguably the best goalie in the state Nick Colon backing them up. Look for Sapora to win most of the face-offs for Episcopal and be met quickly with an LSM sinking deep to cut the fast breaks and a shootout between the Eagles’ Branholm and the Panthers’ Angerer.

The pick… Nease beats Episcopal by 6 (13-7). Defense wins championships, and the better defense moves the Nease Panthers on to the state semifinals on Friday, April 24th at West Orange High School in Winter Garden, FL.

Apopka Blue Darters (District 6) @ Lake Brantley Patriots (District 5) – 8:00PM

I would love to say that Apopka has a chance to win this game. I would love to say that Apopka takes Lake Brantley down to the wire. Heck, I would even love to say that Apopka loses by only ten goals. Fortunately, the Blue Darters had a first round bye and can successfully say that in their first FHSAA playoff appearance they were one of the final eight teams. Unfortunately, for Apopka they face Lake Brantley fresh off a thorough beating of Winter Springs. This is the same Patriots’ team who devastated Apopka winning 17-4 earlier in the year.
The pick… Lake Brantley easily defeats Apopka by 15 (21-6). Good job this year Apopka, keep up the good work. Look for Lake Brantley to empty the benches early to rest the starters for a meeting with Nease in the state semifinals on Friday, April 24th at West Orange High School in Winter Garden, FL.

Gulliver Prep Raiders (District 12) @ Saint Andrews Scots (District 10) – 7:00PM
If you are not going to be attending the other two big close games in the state (Nease vs. Episcopal and FSU vs. UF), then you have no excuse but to be at this game. Unfortunately, these two meet way too early in the playoffs to be knocking each other off. This game will have the skill, tenaciousness, and caliber of play of the state semifinals and championship games. The game features two of the three best goalies in the state with Gulliver’s JT McCook and Saint Andrews’ Bernie Susskind. The two teams met earlier in the year with the Scots pounding away at the Raiders with a 16-6 win. Look for Gulliver to be looking for payback and a possible upset…

The pick… Saint Andrews wins a battle over Gulliver Prep by 4 (13-9). Someone put Gulliver in a different part of the bracket already so they can at least make it to the semifinals. Saint Andrews moves on to play Lake Highland Prep (sorry to ruin the surprise…) in the state semifinals on Friday, April 24th at West Orange High School in Winter Garden, FL.

Vero Beach Indians (District 9) @ Lake Highland Prep Highlanders (District 8) – 7:00PM

Lake Highland Prep comes off another intense overtime win (3rd this year) over Bishop Moore. Vero Beach has some talent on offense, defense, and in the cage and will be rested to play the Highlanders. Unfortunately for the Indians, the Highlanders will have too much talent all over the field. Look for big games out of Proechel and the St. Laurent brothers.

The pick… Lake Highland Prep easily wins over Vero Beach by 11 (18-7). Lake Highland moves on to play Saint Andrews in the state semifinals on Friday, April 24th at West Orange High School in Winter Garden, FL.

Moving away from the FHSAA games on Friday, a special preview/prediction on FSU vs. UF Game on Friday…

Florida State University Seminoles @ University of Florida Gators – UF UVS Field on Friday, April 17th @ 8:00PM

Rivalry. Hatred. If you look up in any article talking about college rivalries, there is one game which will always be on those lists. FSU and UF. The teams may not have the same talent you might find in a John Hopkins verse Maryland game, but the environment is definitely better. On Friday there will be 1,000+ people within ten yards of the UVS field at UF to watch this game, there will be altercations on the field and sideline alike, oh did I forget to also mention that there will be an additional 45,000 people in Gainesville this weekend to watch the spring football game. The atmosphere will be electric as the two bitter enemies square off looking for blood.
Florida State will need to decide which goalie they trust in the cage, senior Stephen Heiman (59.6% save percentage) or freshman John Goodrich (72.1% save percentage). The Seminoles feature an extremely talented defense led by Myles Somerville, JP Rius, and Jack Mata as well as a high scoring offense. Look for FSU midfielders Jon Yates, Alex Pettit, and Robert Lee to dictate the ball from up top and for the defense to slide fast and hard at All-American attackman Corey Noonan who puts a show of talent anytime the ball is around him.
Florida will look for another strong showing out of junior Grant Swartz (53.7% save percentage) in the cage. UF features a senior laden defense led by senior/junior eligibility-wise LSM Brad Swartz (yes they are related…) who doesn’t mind picking up a groundball and taking off 50 yards to score. The Gator offense features a lot of firepower with attackmen Steven Pike and Ryan Akin leading the way and Alex Cervasio returning from injury. Midfielders Scotty Knepper, Kyle Beckman, and FSU Transfer-Jamie Chapin to take their turns letting it rip from up top. Look for face-off middie David Rule to have his hands full with constant battles between Seminole middie Dave Siegel and FO/GO Jason Castellanos. Home field crowd will play a HUGE part in this game; look for the fan sideline to be completely blue and orange with speckled FSU colors mixed in.

The pick… Florida State wins with an open man on the crease in overtime over Florida (14-13). After the game, leaving the field will be an issue with 1000+ angry, buzzed Gator fans…
Next update… FHSAA State Semifinals Preview and Predictions…

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-OrlandoLax

FHSAA Lacrosse Playoff predictions for the Regional Finals and FSU vs. UF Lacrosse games…

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 12:14:19 -0400

orlandolacrossestore:

A summary of my Tuesday night game predictions: -Predicted: Episcopal 11 – Chiles 9. Actual: Episcopal 10 – Chiles 6. -Winner predicted correctly, spread off by 2. -Chiles actually led at halftime 4-3 before Episcopal got it together in the second half. Lawton Chiles could not convert in the fourth on numerous man-up opportunities. Nice run by the Timberwolves to make it this far. -Predicted: Lake Brantley 14 – Winter Springs 5. Actual: Lake Brantley 18 – Winter Springs 3. -Winner predicted correctly, spread off by 6. -By the look of the score, I guess if you can’t maintain possession you can’t score goals… The Patriots D was too much to handle for the Bears. -Predicted: Saint Andrews 23 – Saint Thomas Aquinas 5. Actual: Saint Andrews 25 – Saint Thomas Aquinas 1. -Winner predicted correctly, spread off by 6. -When you play as skilled and disciplined as the Scots and you face a team less talented, this kind of score happens. Good luck in the future Aquinas. -Predicted: Bishop Moore 13 – Lake Highland Prep 12, Game winner by Dpole. Actual: Lake Highland Prep 8 – Bishop Moore 7 in OT, BM Dpole had a shot saved in OT!!! -Winner predicted incorrectly, spread was correct.- This was an amazing game, both goalies played out of their minds, extremely fast paced with the Hornets coming back three goals in the fourth quarter to tie it up. I was going nuts when I saw the d-man take it down and shoot in OT! To win it, the Lake Highland Prep goalie makes a great off-hip save at the end of the game which caused the ball to pop around the post to the back outside the cage, Bishop Moore nearly runs on the field when mistake is realized, Lake Highland Prep goes from one end to the other, Bishop Moore goalie makes a great save which was rebounded and collected by a Highlander attackman who stuffs it in the back of the cage for the OT victory! Results: 3-1 for Tuesday’s games, thanks to LHP for ruining my upset pick in dramatic fashion.
Photos taken by John and Cathi Paoloni of Hammer Sports Photography. John and Cathi have some great action shots and high quality lacrosse photos in the central florida area and you can view and purchase thier photos of the lacrosse playoffs at thier website-http://www.hammersports.info

FHSAA Lacrosse Playoff Game predictions- 2nd round

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 22:19:43 -0400

Check out OrlandoLax’s second post on our Orlando Lacrosse Blog where he breaksdown the matchups for the second round of the high school boys lacrosse playoffs.

It’s High School Lacrosse Playoff Time in Florida– The Sweet 16…

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 17:53:00 -0400

Check out the Orlando Lacrosse Blog for OrlandoLax’s breakdown of the FHSAA boys lacrosse playoffs…