This article is part of a six part series.  Be sure to check out part 1 and part 1. This is the third year of our district by district previews.  Over the next couple of week’s we’ll be  breaking down each district and taking a look at the guys to watch, who the new coaches are, and which teams look ready to break out and make some noise this season. This year, the district-by-district preview is brought to you by RipNet. RipNet is a new goal scoring app and social network for players that is available for free on iPhone, Android and online at www.rip.net.  The apps help you become a better player, follow your friends’ game, and stay connected with all things lacrosse. This video will show you how RipNet Performance Technology works and what you can do with the app. watch video. You studs will be the first to let it rip, which makes RipNet even more fired up to help you put more balls in the back of the net and share your success on the field with players across the state and country.  Good luck this season. Now get out there and start scoring! District 11 Lake Highland Prep is clearly in the driver’s seat of District 11 until someone knocks them off.  The next three spots are a toss-up this year. Lake Highland is returning seven of their ten starters from last season but did lose some top talent.  Key losses for Lake Highland included Davis Anderson (Salisbury), Malcolm Clayton, & Chris Medary (McGill University), Austin Tamayo (Washington & Lee), Tanner Shepardson (Young Harris) Riley Shepardson (FSU), and Cody Prizer (University of Tampa). Lake Highland returns a great deal of the major contributors from last year’s team.  This group should be highly motivated after being defeated in the State Championship last May. Time will tell if they are able to reach the expectations set by the previous two teams that preceded them. Anchoring a strong defense are a pair of solid goalies, junior Alex Acuna & Junior transfer from Bishop Moore Adam Sawicki (Lehigh University). In front of those guys look for senior Casey Irish (Boston University), Jackson Bowen (Undecided), Senior Max Jasmund (Catholic University), Senior John Baughman, and Senior Danny Sinton.  Taking over at LSM will be junior Jacob Brantley-Head. Senior Devon Lewis (Georgetown University), senior Ryan Johnson, junior Will Wolfson, sophomore Reid Thedford, and Face-Off Specialist junior Max Parker will all be very productive at the midfield for the Highlanders.  Starting at the attack this season are senior Clay Phillips (Boston University), senior Billy Roll, and sophomore Connor Aniello. As usual the Lake Highland schedule is loaded.  Tough Florida games include St. Andrews (Defending Champs), St. Thomas Aquinas, Jupiter (state semi-finalist), Benjamin School, Ponte Vedra (State semi-finalist), and Tampa Jesuit (Lost in Regional Championship) add to that Maryland power  houses Calvert Hall and Boys Latin.

Bishop Moore is going to be a young team, they graduated seventeen seniors and are only returning eight players including three seniors and their JV team struggled last year. Add to that the fact that Adam Sawicki departed to Lake Highland Prep and their schedule boasts thirteen games against teams with ten or more wins last season and things might look a little dire. However, we think Bishop Moore is going to surprise a few folks this year.  Stepping in at goal is Ricky Williamson.  This kid has been around a long time and is no slouch between the pipes.  He could have been starting on a lot of Central Florida teams last year.  Look for senior Jack Tangeman (Furman) and junior Charlie Moran to have big seasons again.  Rising star attackman, junior Zach Oliver, has transferred in from The First Academy. (Yeah, he has to play against his dad in the same district.  How did Dad let that happen?) The 2013 Boone lacrosse returns a senior laden defense with Conner McClellan D, Alan Kominoski LSM, and Tanner Barley D.  In cage will be sophomore Joe Kissick.  On the offensive Boone features three stand out players; senior Brooks Onderick, junior Paul Chong, and junior Brad Connelly. The loss of Trey Munoz (Jacksonville), John Kissick (Florida Tech) and Chris Chavez (Saint Leo) will leave a ton of production to replace.  Boone always seems to get the job done and field a very competitive team.  A strong feeder system keeps feeding a solid JV program and they always have guys ready to step up. The First Academy lost five senior starters last season and junior attackman Zach Oliver to Bishop Moore but return our whole starting defense and goalie. They will be very young, loaded with underclassmen but we think they should still be competitive. Players to watch from this young squad include senior Defensemen Micah Larson, Sam Goudy and junior defenseman Tommy Rohrlack.  Sophomore Goalie Austin Cotton should be one of the top Goalies in Central Florida this season.  Austin has been playing goal for TFA on the varsity teams since the 8th grade.  Certainly one of the most experienced sophomores in the area.  Offensive junior Middie Luke West and sophomore Deacon Schrimsher will lead the offensive unit. At LSM, Jordan Rapport is a tremendous player as well. Edgewater rounds out this district. District 12 Oviedo and Winter Park will be battling for a championship this season.  Seminole County is producing some solid teams this season and Oviedo is no exception.  But Coach Ryan Healey and Winter Park HS have a long tradition of success and will not relinquish the hold on this district easily.  If Oviedo wants it, they will have to play hard and fast to get it. For Oviedo look for Greg Strobl and Dakota Dunmire, a strong lefty attack/middie to both have big seasons.  Big question for the Lions is can the fill the void left by goalie Alex Perez? Winter Park is looking to replace some serious talent including Sergio Salcido and Kyle Shepherd.  Look for senior attackman Matt Krecikci and senior defenseman Hunter Chadwick (Army) to be tough to deal with on both ends of the field this year. Trinity Prep has a new coach in Michael von Kamecke and the Saints are looking to make a little noise this season.  The Saints will be very young having graduated eight players from last season’s roster including stand out players Dylan Davis, Jon Wiese, and Ryan Hinkley. Senior attackman, Luke Macchia, who missed much of last season with injury, will be a tough match up for most teams.  Senior defenseman Jake Smith will be leading a very young defense with sophomore Marshall Trier and Freshman Nick Smith. Lake Howell will round out this district with new coach Bill Pyatt.  Bill Pyatt is an experienced coach who has been coaching here in Central Florida for many years.  He should be able to right the ship at Lake Howell and get that program back on track. District 13 Timber Creek will have stiff competition from Hagerty for this district championship.  Hagerty, like several other Seminole County Schools is coming to a peak this season. Timber Creek will look to replace an enormous amount of production lost to graduation.  Jake Rooney (Hofstra) Mason McBroom, Rene Mata, and Patrick Moran (all at Young Harris) have moved on and will need others to step up.  They are looking to senior stand out Scott Turner at attack to carry a heavy load.  Senior Caleb Portanova and junior Mike McAllister will round out a very experienced attack. Seniors Justin Dionne and Justin Higgins along with junior Bruce Preeschl provide lots of speed at the midfield. Senior defenseman Patrick Celentano and senior goalie Kurt Brothers will anchor the defense along with senior Gavin Fennel and junior Cameron Hixenbaugh. Look for sophomore LSM Cameron Von Dyke to have a breakout season. Timber Creek’s season is to be highlighted with a March 11th Pink/White game at Olympia High School.  The game will raise money for MD Anderson and Breast Cancer Research.  Stay tuned to FloridaLacrosseNews.com in the near future for more details. Hagerty is looking for production from seniors Erik Marshall, Austin Lenick, Kevin Collin, and Andrew Bonnie.  Jimmy Kurilla (Berry College) Frank Cullen will anchor an athletic defense. University and East River will round out this district.  University is looking to keep improving under new head coach Andrew Hochheimer. District 14 Dr. Phillips won the district title last season with a one goal victory over Olympia.  We expect it to be that close again. Attackman Brett Forward led the team in points last year as a junior with 52 goals and 35 assists.  He will be leading a very fast, quick shooting attack unit.  Expect good production form a solid midfield featuring Doug Essig. He finished last season with 19 goals and 19 assists and handles most of the face-offs.  Kevin Hoppy anchors an experienced defensive unit.  Kevin has led the team in groundballs the last two seasons and is the captain of the defense.   Head coach, Matt Provencher said, “As a coach, I am excited to see what new coaches at Freedom and Windermere Prep will bring, but we know our biggest competition will always be Matt Ort’s Olympia squad because it is always such a huge rivalry game.” Olympia lefty senior attack Greg Ferone scored 65 points last year and will be looked to for more points this year.   Defensivel,  senior Kevin Cummins will be matched up on opponents top attackmen.  He is a solid shut down defender.   Sophomore middie Calvin Anderson is looking to break out this year.  He has good speed and a great shot. Senior Braden Laidroo will take the face offs and is also a solid shooter. Lake Nona looked like they were going to threaten at one point but disappointed in 2012.  They had no wins against opponents with winning records and now a late coaching change combined with the cancellation of the JV season gives the appearance that the Lake Nona program may be going backwards.  They do have some talented and hardworking players on the team like Nicholas Scoracco, the small but dangerous attackman. Freedom and Windermere Prep will round out this district.  Andrew Almansberger has taken over the reins for long time coach John Tomassoni.   Tomassoni did a great job building a competitive program at Freedom.  Could this be the season they start making strides to get to the next level?  Windermere Prep is on their fourth coach in three years. District 15

Tampa Jesuit won this district last year outscoring opponents 36-4 in the District playoffs and nothing should change that.  The Tigers return 4 of their top 6 scorers with Ryan Brady, Attack (Washington and Lee), and Jordan Suarez, middie (FSU), leading the offense.  In goal four year starter Cole Fox looks to lead an improved defense returning Quint Bodine, Cary Brown and Hunter Gray at LSM.  Tampa Jesuit has a tough schedule with games against LHP, St Andrews, Jupiter and Lambert.  Cardinal Mooney was the runner up last year and should be in the same position this year.  Returning attackman Mickey Kahl leads Cardinal Mooney. After Mooney look for Berkley Prep and Tampa Catholic to battle it out.  Berkeley Prep should continue to build after graduating only one senior. They have a strong defense with three returning seniors, Taylor Whitcomb, Jake Marfise, and Jake Chervitz. Sophomore Nick Ludy returns.  Nick broke the Berkley Prep regular season scoring record last year as a freshman. Coach Ralph Kitzmiller said, “We are very focused and working hard for a successful season.” Tampa Prep and All Saints Academy (Winter Haven) round out this district.