You talk about an interesting season.

How does last year’s Final Four get topped? It might not happen for a long time.

Both semifinals were one goal games, as was the title game.

It’s long been a tenet of these polls that the defending champs and runners-up get the top two spots going into the year. I won’t deviate from that, but I can pretty much be certain that those two will not be #1/#2 for long. Both Bartram Trail and Vero Beach were heavily reliant on deep senior classes, and while both has a returning star, neither has a lot of experience beyond that, so they will be on growth curves.

Here’s last year’s final poll:

Final 2022 FLN Girls 2A Top 10!

1) Bartram Trail – lifting the trophy

2) Vero Beach – what a final it was

3) Steinbrenner – anyone who paid attention . . .

4) St. Thomas Aquinas – . . . got to watch the best Final Four in Girls history

5) Newsome – one major impediment in their way

6) Hagerty – regional final was their worst game

7) Ponte Vedra – BT truly . . .

8) Lake Mary – . . . too tough for this region

9t) Plant, Gulf Coast and Boca Raton – very little to distinguish among them

Also Considered:

None

*****

We have room for another, as Ponte Vedra has been slotted in 1A.

Now, the most intriguing story for the Girls going into this year is Steinbrenner. The great class of players are now seniors, and after one-goal losses in consecutive Final Four semifinals, they are primed to potentially give the Tampa area the first FHSAA state title, Girls or Boys.

Their schedule is solid, but not rigorous. The team should be able to come into the playoffs ready. But there is one team in their area that tested them twice last year in Newsome. Newsome is the biggest wild card here, because their star player Samantha Swanovich was injured in the offseason and there is a question of whether she will play her senior year. If healthy, she makes Newsome a Top 5 team, but without her it’s more near 9-10.

We’ll start by assuming she is out until further information comes in.

Bartram Trail has Ryann Frechette and a lot of open questions. Vero Beach has Alexa Vega and just as many questions. Final Four St. Thomas lost their three top scorers.

Could a Newsome/Steinbrenner regional final be the key game of the season? Then there’s teams in the Orlando area waiting to spoil the party with Hagerty, Lake Mary and Oviedo coming off solid years. Hagerty struggled early through injuries and came on as the year went on. Lake Mary was maybe the least respected team in the Top 10 due to some inconsistency in results. Almost the entire team returns. Lake Brantley returns a lot and seemed to have success with Lake Mary during the season.

Plant is an interesting story. The 3 top scorers from last season were all freshwomen. Could this be Steinbrenner three years ago? They could be poised for a leap up after falling to Gulf Coast in the first round by one.

Gulf Coast progressed as the year went on but lost a bad playoff game to Steinbrenner. Viera was a nice surprise but did not handle the better teams well.

Another intriguing story will be a healthy Sickles team, as Rebekah Hangen returns from a season-ending injury. Boca Raton is one team that returns most of their top players and can seriously challenge St Thomas this year in Region 4.

Here we go!

FLN’s Class 2A Preseason Top 10

1) Bartram Trail – the defending champs, but it will be very difficult to overcome 231 graduating goals

2) Vero Beach – the program rarely has faced this many graduation losses and I expect they will not be here later in the season.

3) Steinbrenner – expectations have never been higher

4) Hagerty – the slate is wiped clean and there’s plenty of history of winning here

5) St. Thomas Aquinas – three key pieces moved on; can the kids step up? The schedule is full of challenges so they should be as ready as possible when playoffs come around.

6) Plant – I see a lot of growth coming here this year

7) Boca Raton – needs to show they can compete with the best in the state.

8) Lake Mary – a real shot at a Final Four if they can find consistency

9) Sickles – kind of a hunch that the team is ready to break out

10) Newsome – 2A could very well run through the I-4 corridor this year

Also Considered: Gulf Coast, Oviedo, Viera