FLN is proud to welcome Zach Carey as our intern focusing on Men’s D1 Performances by Florida-raised players!  Zach is a lacrosse player and future sports reporter, and we are thrilled he’s volunteered to write this beat for us!  Welcome to the team Zach!

  Now that the Division 1 college lacrosse season is up and running, it’s time to take a look at how the Florida kids have fared in the last week of play. In Bellarmine’s 21-5 victory over the Hampton Pirates, attackmen Griffin Bowie (Benjamin) canned one goal on his five shots. Four days later, Bowie and Bellarmine faced off against St. Bonaventure and Dominic Madlang (Hagerty). In that contest, Bowie scored three goals on seven shots and dished out an assist, as he and the Knights beat the Bonnies 13-5. Madlang got runs at midfield, but didn’t record a stat in the loss. In another Saturday matchup, Robert Morris smothered Canisius 22-10 and Sophomore Golden Griffin Jake Lemon, from Tampa Jesuit, saw playing time and recorded a shot. For Cleveland State, LSM Brandon Ruditz (Boca Raton) caused a Notre Dame turnover and also recorded a ground ball. On the opposing side, attackman Stephen Chase (Maclay) netted a goal for the Irish as the team from South Bend sprinted out to a 12-1 halftime lead, before closing it out and winning 17-7. Among three Floridians on Dartmouth, Junior attackman George Prince (IMG) was the only one to see playing time against Merrimack. In Dartmouth’s 13-11 win, Prince made good of the opportunity, carrying the Big Green and scoring six goals on nine shots to go with three assists, for nine points. Merrimack Freshman Lucas Gauch from St. Thomas Aquinas also saw playing time in this contest, as did his teammate and close defender Nicholas Perez-Blanco (Belen Jesuit). Gauch only recorded a turnover in the box score, but Perez-Blanco caused two turnovers and picked up a ground ball. Against Navy, Jack Dowd from Ponte Vedra went scoreless in Furman’s 19-4 loss to the Midshipmen. That said, Dowd was still able to record a shot. For Hartford, Braedon McKercher (Lake Mary) netted two goals last Sunday, against Sacred Heart, and then followed that up by finding the net again versus St. Johns on Saturday. In Worcester, Massachusetts, Brad Baker and Holy Cross took down the Vermont Catamounts 10-9. Baker, from Tampa Jesuit, took two shots and recorded a ground ball in the victory.  Bishop Moore alums Jackson Canfield and Will Jones anchored the Catamount defense, as Canfield recorded three groundballs and caused two turnovers and Jones pitched in two caused turnovers and another ground ball. Following a long trek from Jacksonville to Milwaukee, Hayden La Vangie (Fleming Island) and his Jacksonville teammates nabbed a two-goal win from the Marquette Golden Eagles and Anthony Courcelle (Cypress Bay). LSM La Vangie corralled four ground balls, while midfielder Courcelle scooped up two of his own. For Manhattan, Trevor Pelletier (Gulliver Prep) got himself on the score board with a goal in the Jaspers’ 10-8 win over the VMI Keydets. In the weekend’s most anticipated matchup, Jared Bernhardt (Lake Brantley) led a thrilling Maryland comeback win over Penn. Scoring four goals, dishing out two assists, and picking up three ground balls, Bernhardt carried the Terps throughout the first half, but was less involved in the second, taking the attention of the defense and allowing others in the Maryland offense to play off him. Against Princeton, Ian Weinberg, out of Gulf Coast, finished 6-16 at the faceoff x in Monmouth’s 20-9 loss to the Tigers. For North Carolina on Saturday, Will Nicklaus (Benjamin) and Ryan O’Leary (Oak Hall) both represented the Sunshine State versus Lafayette. Nicklaus got off two shots, both missing the cage, while O’Leary recorded a turnover in more limited time. Quinnipiac starting defenseman Devin Naidoo from Ponte Vedra got called for two penalties in the Bobcat’s loss to Brown on Saturday. St. Joe’s goalie Mike Adler (St. Thomas Aquinas) made twelve saves, but allowed sixteen goals in the Hawks 19-4 loss to Penn State. His teammate, Austin Strazzulla (Vero Beach), recorded one assist, while also picking up a ground ball. As a Senior for the Albany Great Danes, Saint Andrew’s graduate Davis Diamond dished out one assist in his team’s loss to Cornell. On a frigid afternoon in Syracuse, Mikey Berkman, Jared Fernandez, and the Orange overpowered Binghamton to the tune of a 17-4 final score. Fernandez, a d-pole out of Tampa and IMG, reeled in six ground balls, and Berman, out of West Orange, got a few runs at offensive midfield. Junior Andrew O’Dare, out of Ponte Vedra, has found himself a role as a short-stick defensive midfielder for Towson. In the Tigers’ one-goal loss to Mount St. Mary’s, O’Dare was assessed a penalty during his playing time. For Air Force, Floridians Dylan Frankhouser and Daniel Pagano each contributed to the Falcon’s 9-8 win. FOGO Frankhouser, from Jupiter, went 1-5 from the x, recording one ground ball and a caused turnover. LSM Pagano, from WT Dwyer, gobbled up one ground ball himself and also caused a Utah turnover. On the opposing side, former Cardinal Mooney attackman M.J. McMahon got runs at offensive midfield for the Utes. In Army’s 15-4 drubbing of Rutgers, attackman Miles Silva (Ponte Vedra) and goalie Wyatt Schulper (Ponte Vedra) came up big. Silva scored two goals on three shots, and Schulper recorded sixteen saves. In fact, Schulper only allowed two goals in his fifty minutes of play. Their teammate, close defender Bennett Taylor (HB Plant), caused two turnovers, picked up two ground balls, and even won the one faceoff he took against the Scarlet Knights. For Yale, starting offensive midfielder Christian Cropp (Benjamin) took five shots in the Bulldogs’ 18-12 victory over Villanova. While he got shots off, Cropp did fail to get anything past the goalie. All in all, it’s been an encouraging first few weeks for Florida’s Division one lacrosse talent, and we’ve got an exciting season to look forward to!