District 23 has shown a shift in the balance of power over the past few years.  Vero Beach and Jensen Beach held sway for a while with Martin County looking to keep up and now it’s St. Edward’s lately dominating the district with Martin County still looking to break through.  Jensen was extraordinarily young last year and Vero’s program pretty much fell flat due to self-inflicted wounds.  And very quietly we now are seeing the building of a program at Pine School.  One thing that can be said is that there has not been a lack of storylines in District 23. St. Edward’s did this the right way, scheduling pretty much anyone they could above them, and their losses were to a Who’s Who of the state, and just one of those games won would have given them a Top 25 Final ranking but they finished just outside of it.  5 regular season losses to St. Andrew’s, Oxbridge, Benjamin, Lake Mary and AH-Delray and wins over SJP II and Gulliver on the road and Merritt Island at home.  The unfortunate part is that every year this district plays District 24 in the first round and state champion Jupiter was sitting there last year. There is no SA or Benjamin this year but AH-Plantation, Maclay and Montverde Academy step in so it’s not a weak sister schedule by any means.  Martin County is also looking to make their mark and their first game saw a nice win over Viera, but the rest of the schedule is pretty light to make a strong case for ranking. At Pine School, former Jensen Beach HC Matt Sofarelli is looking to take a step upward in their first year here at varsity level and he’ll still need a few more years to work up the ladder. But right now it looks like it’s St. Ed’s to lose. Last season’s Regular Season records via MaxPreps (Note: possibility not all results were uploaded):  

School Name	*W-L	*Pct.	W-L	Pct.	GF	GA
St. Edward’s	4-0	1.000	12-6	0.667	201	131
Martin County	3-0	1.000	10-8	0.556	145	147
Vero Beach	2-2	0.500	4-9	0.308	95	149
Jensen Beach	1-4	0.200	2-16	0.111	69	281
South Fork	0-4	0.000	2-11	0.154	79	160

• * Denotes district data.

  As usual, there’s no guarantee that all of this is accurate.   Saint Edward’s 12-6, lost in the FHSAA first round Head Coach Doug Bailey gave us is insights into the season: What are your expectations this season for the team? Become better and better growing our depth through the regular season preparing for playoffs if we earn a spot in the District 23 Tournament. Who are the returning players who will make a difference this season? Our Captains 2020 Luke Jayne (Attack, Midfield), 2019 Will Sternberg (LSM, Defense), 2020 Reid Bartosch (Midfield) and 2020 Sam Cardosi (Defense) will provide the leadership we will need to make a difference in our ability to build upon our work last year; developing this team from a very young 2018 squad into a much more mature 2019 squad.   We still have lots of young players who will be contributing, but the main contributors will be those who had the chance to develop last year when they were sophomores and freshman.     Awards: Luke Jayne: 2^nd team midfield 2018 US Lacrosse Florida Southern Region (District 23 & 24) 1^st team midfield 2018 District 23 Reid Bartosch: Honorable Mention midfield 2018 US Lacrosse Florida Southern Region (District 23 & 24) 1^st team midfield 2018 District 23 Will Sternberg: Honorable Mention LSM 2018 US Lacrosse Florida Southern Region (District 23 & 24) 1^st team LSM 2018 District 23 Sam Cardosi: 3^rd team Defense 2018 District 23     What players do you expect to step up this year that didn’t get much playing time last year? I’m going to answer this in a different way because I think our circumstance is slightly different than what your question seeks based on having such a young squad last year. For the first time at Saint Edward’s since I’ve been here, we have some depth to go with our abilities!   And particularly important, many of these players are multi-sports athletes which adds to their competitive experience at the HS level. Here’s a few: 2020 Ryan Bird (A,M)                1^st team District 23 Attack 2020 Josh Pusser (A,M)            1^st team District 23 Attack 2020 Drew Eidemueller (M)    3^rd team District 23 Midfield 2020 Will Bahl (A)                      3^rd team District 23 Attack 2021 Sam Toomey  (D)             2^nd team District 23 Defense 2021 Drew Sternberg (M)        2^nd team District 23 Attack 2021 Brennan Wolfe (A, M)    2^nd team District 23 Attack 2021 Ian Horvit (LSM, D) 2021 Ashton Noe (M) 2021 Danny Richmond (M) 2022 Riker Pratt (M)               3^rd team District 23 Face-Off 2022 Liam Murphy (G)            1^st team District 23 Goalie 2022 Oscar Lindenthal (A) 2022 David Pyles (D) 2022 Colin Pickering (LSM/D) What are the games you are really looking forward to this season? Every single one of them.  I look at our games as a chance to learn, build and prepare something special for the playoffs based of our personnel, and being adaptable while learning what we do best.  The regular season gives a chance to do just that.  I think we will be challenged throughout the season, but we will be ready for a playoff run when the time comes.   Martin County 10-8, lost in the district final We have not received their questionnaire yet, we’ll add when we get it   Vero Beach 4-9, lost in the district semifinals We have not received their questionnaire yet, we’ll add when we get it   Jensen Beach 1-16, lost in the district semifinals Head Coach Brent Mahieu wrote in with the following: What are your expectations this season for the team? We look forward to continued growth of our players.  We are returning 5 seniors, 5 juniors, 14 sophomores and have 12 new freshman, so our future is bright at Jensen.  Additionally, we welcome Hunter Pfeiffer, senior transfer from South Fork High School. Who are the returning players who will make a difference this season? Hunter Pfeiffer(Sr – M), Kyle Willis (So – M), Patrick Barry (So – G) What players do you expect to step up this year that didn’t get much playing time last year? Jake Elder (Jr – M) What are the games you are really looking forward to this season? St. Eds, Martin County and IMG   South Fork 2-11, did not qualify for district We have not received their questionnaire yet, we’ll add when we get it   Pine School, first year as a varsity/district program Head Coach Matt Sofarelli wrote in with his thoughts: What are your expectations this season for the team? The Pine School Lacrosse team is on an upswing in the last 3 seasons.  Getting back into district 23 this was a goal of the team when Coach Sofarelli took over three years ago as the Athletic Director and Head Lacrosse Coach.  For this upcoming season, we are expecting to be competitive in our District.     Who are the returning players who will make a difference this season? Matthew Powers Senior Middie; Noah Kalter Senior Defensman, Jack Squier Sophomore Middie; Tyler Markulics junior Attack, Michael Powers Sophomore middie What players do you expect to step up this year that didn’t get much playing time last year? Dylan Markulics 8^th grade middie     What are the games you are really looking forward to this season? All the District games especially Jensen Beach.  I started the lacrosse program there and it will be the first time that I will be able to coach against my old school.