Florida Lacrosse Showcase joins the fold.  To be fair to them, I’m still the only one choosing the schools so aim your vindictiveness to me, not the Showcase!   The Florida Lax Showcase Web Link   As always, let’s start with last week’s Poll . . .   This Week’s Florida Lacrosse Showcase Top 25 Media Poll! #1 – Oxbridge – there’s no doubt, they DID sweep the weekend #2 – Jupiter – as did they #3 – Bishop Moore – statement made AGAIN, and then some #4 – St. Thomas Aquinas – finally got a northern win, Jupiter at home Thursday #5 – Benjamin – LHP home game no longer a big game, unless they lose it.  Road game at Bishop Moore is the best chance to move higher #6 – Ponte Vedra – snake bit, needs to win one of these #7 –  Lake Mary – really only Winter Park left #8 – Saint Andrew’s – off all week #9 – Oak Hall – on cruise control again #10 – Cardinal Mooney – flips with TJ as they take care of business, I want to see a HUGE CROWD on April 3rd!  #TAFTAG! #11 –  Tampa Jesuit – did not show they are ready for the Final Four yet, has to go through BM to do so #12 – West Orange  – not going higher unless they get to the Final Eight #13 – HB Plant – I have to move them up due to LHP’s poor performances #14 – Belen Jesuit – the last 5 games are really difficult #15 – Pine Crest – big win over Stoneman, moves up with the LHP move down #16 – Nease – would like to have seen closer scores this weekend #17 – Winter Park – Friday is huge for the program #18 – Lake Highland Prep – this better not continue, the poor performances #19 – Newsome – playoffs will tell if they can move up #20 – American Heritage-Boca – a nice win over a surprisingly good Western-Davie team that will be on my radar and a close road loss to Belen #21 – Stoneman Douglas – loss to Pine Crest, wins over Boca and Gulliver keep them here #22 (t) – Sickles, Hagerty, Canterbury Ft. Myers and Riverview-Sarasota That might seem like a cop out but really these four are so close you can do this for one week . . . at least they can all claim to be Top 22 this week!   Just outside the Top 25 Gulf Breeze, Western-Davie, Creekside, Merritt Island, Fleming Island, Buchholz, Lake Brantley   Last week was a week of Big Games . . . this week less so. Really only one intersectional game of note and in that one Benjamin handled LHP easily, as befit their poll positions. But some interesting intra-sectional games as teams look to gear up for the playoff run. Yep, hard to believe it but most teams are already 75% through their regular season schedules. A season that started with the memories of MSD just 5 days before.  It put a pall over much of the early season. Thankfully, the season has progressed and, while MSD is still in our minds, the play on the field has helped to get the lacrosse world to look forward too.   One of those big games last week was the road win by #13 HB Plant over #11 Tampa Jesuit.  Tampa Lax Report provided a wonderful video recap of their ‘Game Of The Week’ and while I’d love to link to it I have to admit it took some time to find it on the home page . . . So here is the YouTube video of their recap and make sure to check out Tampa Lax Report throughout the season, as they focus on that growing area of the sport! And maybe they could teach me how to edit videos . . .     This is what I mean about being able to thank the sport for helping us to look forward and heel from the way the season started. Thanks Tampa Lax Report!   Which brings me to a big Thank You . . . To all those out there who support all of us who are bringing you the news across the state. Tampa Lax Report is one, as noted above (http://www.tampalaxreport.com/) Another long time provider is Lax904, run by Ray Carnicelli.  His site, (http://freeteams.com/nflax/), covers the Northeast corner of the state at the high school level, as well as doing play by play for JU games that you can see on ESPN3 and broadcasting high school games. Also in the North is the Twitter provider @LaxNorthfl (northfl_lax), as they provide many of the same things as Tampa Lax Report, but purely at this point from a Twitter platform. All of us appreciate the readership and interest that this great sport generates. Many high schools and other organizations like Clubs, have their own Twitter feeds and you should try to pick a few in your area for teams you want to follow and keep in touch. SportsLowdown.Com has joined us with providing write ups for FIT Men’s and Women’s games this year. A big shout out to all the college Sports Information Departments for their press releases that you get to read here throughout the year. At the MCLA level we’ve been getting reports from FSU, through FLN Correspondent Anthony Cicio, UF Men, FAU Men, UNF Men, etc. Tom Congdon has contributed articles in the past and is continuing that in this current year. albeit from a new location.  Tom is now located in the Tallahassee region and has submitted some articles about that growing area. I’d also like to thank all the respondents to our Submit Recruit Commitment, Report Media Coverage, etc., buttons on the Home Page, for sending us great content! FLN’s Twitter followers took a nice jump ahead this season and are now at 4,142!  I’d like to ask all my followers to also try to follow the sites mentioned above, let’s continue to build out our lacrosse community in Florida.   A Brief Intermission   One thing that an aspiring lacrosse player needs to do is to practice their stick skills and that means one thing . . . WALL BALL. Even if you are taking time off (a pretty good idea that I will get into next week) or playing another sport, it still makes sense to put some time in at this vital aspect of getting better at this sport.     Just a reminder, this is one thing you can’t ignore in this sport.   Now, let’s get to what happened last week   Key Games From Last Week   Monday None   Tuesday Cardinal Mooney 13-5 over ODA Canterbury 9-8 over Gulf Coast on the road St. Thomas 9-3 over Belen Jesuit Wiregrass Ranch 14-6 over Steinbrenner   Wednesday American Heritage-Plantation 14-9 over Stoneman Douglas Benjamin 20-9 over LHP HB Plant 7-5 over Tampa Jesuit on the road Viera over Merritt Island 109-9 on the road   Thursday NSU University 8-7 over Western-Davie Saint Andrew’s 15-7 over St. Edward’s on the road SJP II 15-14 over Pine Crest in OT Jupiter takes down St. Thomas 11-6 on the road   Friday Winter Park 10-9 over Lake Mary on the road   That Winter Park win over Lake Mary was definitely one that I didn’t see coming. One of my readers, Becky Junod, forwarded to me two videos from the game, one from the game winning goal and one from the after game celebration.  I’ve asked her to upload them to YT and when I get them I’ll add them here. Winter Park really showed something with this win and with the rest of the schedule fairly easy the rest of the way the Wildcats look likely to post a 15-1 regular season record and a likely district final matchup with Hagerty, whom they’ve already beaten.  The winner of that district final will be looking at a potentially vulnerable LHP in round one. Something to keep an eye on.   The Underdog Upset of the Week   Besides what Winter Park was able to do one that popped up was the 12-11 win by Naples over Barron Collier.  Naples has taken a step up this year and Barron has taken a step back, but last year Barron won those two games 20-4 in the regular season and 15-2 in the District 20 finals and this win was possibly the first ever in program history over BC, certainly as far back as 2005.  Congratulations to the Golden Eagles! Also should mention the Viera road win over Merritt Island.  Not that it was a huge upset but it was one that Viera needed to get consideration for my Top 25 and mission accomplished!   Key Games This Week   Monday None   Tuesday Cardinal Mooney hosts St. Thomas Aquinas Columbus Catholic hosts NSU University (certainly didn’t think about this one before the season started) Hagerty hosts LHP Naples hosts Community School-Naples (nor this one either) Saint Andrew’s hosts Jupiter   Wednesday South Plantation hosts Stoneman Douglas (more for an undefeated South Plantation than anything else)   Thursday American Heritage-Boca hosts Pine Crest Pensacola Catholic hosts Gulf Breeze   Friday Bishop Moore hosts Benjamin (last year’s was BM’s true coming out game) Columbus Catholic hosts American Heritage-Plantation Ponte Vedra hosts Gonzaga (DC) – note, Gonzaga just knocked off Boys’ Latin! Tampa Jesuit hosts Belen Jesuit LHP hosts Cardinal Mooney Nease hosts Oak Hall   Saturday HB Plant hosts Belen Jesuit   Intermission 2.0   While the high school season moves along and many of you are also watching a college game or two (while I’m writing this I’ve got a great Rutgers-Johns Hopkins game on the B1G Ten Network going), the MLL season is rapidly creeping up on us too! And remember, the Florida Launch made the playoffs for the first time last season and the opening game, a road tilt with Atlanta, is only 3 weeks from today!  The college draft is on April 18th and once again the Launch have some nice picks in the first few rounds and will look to add even more skill and depth to a lineup that finished very strong last year, losing a tough game to eventual MLL champion Ohio. And if you need a reminder what you are going to see, and a reason to buy season tickets, here’s Launch goalie Austin Kaut’s highlights from last year!     My third segment for LSN was taped Friday but only one of the three parts was aired due to time constraints. That segment focused on the referee shortage in Broward County and there’s hardly any surprises in what I said. The first part of the segment was a look at the big games from the previous week, as a follow up to the previous appearance. But the last part, which also did not air yet, was something a little different. I suggested we discuss my personal Mt. Rushmore of Florida lacrosse and I thought it through quite a bit and came up with something a little outside the box.   I’m a big fan of the National Treasure movies and the second one focuses on this monument . . . National Treasure #3 is being researched but there is not definitive go ahead at this time.   Anyhow, when I thought it through I sort of decided there were two people who deserved individual spots because they have inspired so many of us in the Florida Lacrosse Community, as well as around the country.  I did think about having some sort of Stoneman connection but decided that it was too early to consider that. As for the other two slots I decided that it would be a category of multiple people because it was better to get more people the recognition they so richly deserve.   Okay, here we go:   #1 – Mikey Stolzenberg Is there anyone who is a better face of Florida lacrosse than Mikey? For those of you who are new to this site and is not aware of who Mikey is and what he has overcome: SI Kids Article from 2016   #2 – John Michael Knight John Michael Knight is a Mercer Commit from Trinity Prep who suffered a brain stem stroke entering his senior year. This stroke basically required ‘JM Strong’ to re-learn all his motor functions, and he continues to make progress towards that final goal! We’re all rooting for you!   #3 – The Builders of the Game in Florida                                 There’s so many more I can list here but this will do to start!   #4 – The Players                                      Just a small representation of what the state is all about!  There are plenty more to go!   Some of that is a nice trip down memory lane for me in the 6 years I have written for FLN . . .   Okay, here we go,   This Week’s Florida Lacrosse Showcase Top 25 Media Poll!   #1 – Oxbridge – should have no trouble winning out, going undefeated in Florida with a great resume #2 – Jupiter – the road win over STA was a dominating performance #3 – Bishop Moore – Friday’s home game against Benjamin will be a barn burner if last year’s was any indication, right Mr. C? #4 – Benjamin – gaining steam, the Best Damn District Final looms again #5 –  Ponte Vedra – Gonzaga (DC) comes to town fresh off a win over Boys’ Latin . . . ouch . . . #6(t) – St. Thomas Aquinas – why not? #6(t) – Saint Andrew’s – similar resumes #8 – Cardinal Mooney – I STILL want to see a HUGE CROWD on April 3rd!  #TAFTAG! #9 – Oak Hall – on cruise control again #10 – HB Plant – A big win over TJ and Belen Jesuit is coming to town #11 –  Winter Park – Friday WAS huge for the program as they move up #12 – West Orange  – not going higher unless they get to the Final Eight #13 – Lake Mary – did not take care of business at home #14 – Tampa Jesuit – all of a sudden struggling, will need to right the ship quickly #15 – Nease – who would have thought Maclay could forfeit a game? #16 – Belen Jesuit – STA loss hurts a little #17 – Lake Highland Prep – the unthinkable is possible, a losing record #18 – American Heritage-Boca – off all week, should run the table, going into the District as #2 seed #19 – Newsome – no change this week #20 – Canterbury-Ft. Myers – just keeps taking care of business #21 – Hagerty – big games still coming up #22 – Riverview-Sarasota – head to head win over Sickles wins the promotion #23 – American Heritage-Plantation – really coming on strong, needs to win out to stay here #24 – Sickles – needs the Newsome game to move up #25 (t) – Pine Crest and SJP II – the road OT loss to SJP II hurts but PC still has the better season resume   Just outside the Top 25 Gulf Breeze,  Creekside, Viera, Fleming Island, Buchholz, Lake Brantley, Stoneman Douglas  

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