The South Central bracket is deep and has some of the biggest teams from the last couple of seasons. St. Andrews, of course, looks to be a contender this season along with Jupiter, Benjamin, and Vero Beach.
District 19
Vero Beach will be the team to beat in District 19. Vero Beach has won nine straight district championships. This year they are in a much more competitive district. Sebastian River has moved to District 18 (1-14 in 2013) and Martin County, Jensen Beach, South Fork, and The Pine School have joined.
Vero Beach vs Spanish River in 2013
Top Vero Beach players to watch are senior attackman Winton Roschach (Roanoke,) junior attack/middie Cole Obrien (Holy Cross,) and junior LSM Jacob Coleman (Queens University of Charlotte.) Opponents also need to keep on eye on hard shooting Tyler Martin, junior attackman.
They will certainly miss Trey Pierce their All American last year as well as Austen Zugelter (Florida Tech.) The Indians have also had a change on the coaching staff. From Coach John Moriarty, “The departure of admired long time assistant George Wadsworth is mitigated by the addition of three-time all american, two- time D2 midfielder of the year, James Delaney. The graduate of Seton Hill University in Greensburg, PA brings the qualities of intensity,enthusiasm and experience to help Vero Beach to the next level of excellence.”
Eric Simon between the pipes for Martin County
Jensen Beach will be in the running for the title this year. The Falcons return two All-District defensemen in Logan Bach and Adnrew Swenson. They have a very talented midfield line featuring All-District Ryan Rupp, Ryan Gallaher (Wheeling Jesuit,) and Beau Ladwig.
All-District attackman, Jared Welsh, will be an offensive threat. Austin Brodie is back in the goal. Austin was an honorable mention All-Region last year and could be making a college commitment in the coming weeks. Wyatt Weiseman will handle the face off duties. Wyatt was first team All-Region in 2013 and is a top notch face off specialist.
Coach Soffarelli has a couple of his young guns. Freshmen Jake Ferguson (LSM) and Hunter East (midfield) are certain to make it onto our Freshmen Watch List in the coming weeks.
Jensen Beach was 10-6 last year and return all but one starter. Combine that level of experience with a coaching staff that features Matt Sofarelli – Syracuse Midfielder (’01) – Four Final Fours, Rob Kavovit – Syracuse Attackman – (’97) – 3-time All-American, and Joe Cuozzo – 8 NY state Titles as coach of Ward Melville – Lacrosse Hall of Fame inductee, and they could be a serious contender.
Martin County will be tough to score on this year with sophomore Eric Simon in the goal. Eric has recently committed to the University of Delaware. Another NCAA commit on this team is Hunter Jones, a senior attackman who is headed to Belmont Abbey next year. Junior Troy Fischer at middie, junior attackman Luke Kendall, and senior defenseman Andrew Mauer will keep Martin County tough this season. Coach Justin Van Tassel said, ” This year we are in a new district. I think the top teams are Vero, St. Edwards, Jensen Beach, and us (Martin County). This is a very strong district and should be exciting this year. It is up for grabs to the team that plays best. Out of those four teams, anyone could win it.”
St. Ed’s is looking to contend again this year. Terrell Sands (High Point) is returning for his senior year and is expected to have a great season. Ross Pridemore leads a very talented freshmen class at St. Ed’s. Look for this team to make run over the next couple of seasons.
John Carroll Catholic, South Fork, and The Pine School round out this district.
District 20
Benjamin made it to the Final Four last season and although they lost some talent they also had a lot of good young players on that team.
Anthony Cicio will head to Manhattan next season
Top returners include Anthony Cicio(Manhattan) in the net and Jerry O’connor (Yale) and John Dorsett (Gettysburg) on Defense. Ryan Silvester and McKenna Johnston make up part of a very athletic midfield. Johnston will be playing football at W&L. Colin O’hare rounds out that midfield. He is a sophomore that could be looking at a breakout season.
Sophomore attack Andrew Packer (Maryland) has game changing ability. He will be working on attack with another sophomore, Cameron Thompson. Thompson was named MVP at Peak South.
The loss of Erdmann for the season with an injury really takes away some depth and this team has a tough schedule and cannot absorb too many injuries. In addition to all of the big boys in the state on their schedule, Benjamin will make a Spring Break trip up to Maryland to play Severn and Calvert Hall.
Jupiter goalie Viper Scheele is committed to Bryant
Jupiter returns this season with a stacked roster and will join Benjamin in District 20. This is a another district with two teams who have the potential to go far. Jupiter also has a solid goalie in Viper Scheel (Bryant). Connor Alexander (Duke), Zach Crotty, Jesse Foertmeyer , Braylen Sampson , and Peter Cox (Army) will make for a pretty intimidating roster for most opponents.
Palm Beach Gardens will be looking for Steve Smith to lead the attack. He returns after a 54 goal season in 2013. Middie Pat Shea (UCF) is a GB vacuum picking up 92 last season along with 23 points. Defenseman Drew Walker (Roanoke) will anchor a sold defensive unit in front of two-time all district goalie Amande Cocuzza.
WT Dwyer rounds out this district. They were 6-6 in 2013 and are always recognized as a tough opponent who should not be taken lightly.
