Maclay won District one over Chiles 16-1.  The Marauders are facing a very motivated, talented, but young Oak Hall team in the first round.  Maclay is playing their best lacrosse right now and coach Hardy has been preparing this team for the playoff run all season.  They are currently on an 11 game win streak.

Oak Hall defeated Buchholz to win the District 2 Championship in a double OT game.  Larry Savage did a great write up at Gainesville.com on the game. The Bobcats were 16-1 coming into this game and were on a roll winning 11 straight.  A win streak that included a 16-8 victory over Oak Hall.  We were at that game, which was held at Buchholz.  Buchholz held a tremendous home field advantage in that game, the Buchholz student body is to be commended, and the youngsters at Oak Hall appeared to be a little overwhelmed.  We wondered if the neutral site would give Oak Hall a chance to play to their potential.  Apparently it did and they pulled it off.  They’ll have their hands full when they face another team on an 11 game winning streak.  Fortunately for Oak Hall, they are hosting this one.

In district 3 Lee’s 7-13 season peaked with an OT victory over Stanton Prep to win the district semi-final.  That had to feel good for those guys who were 1-10 in 2014, 0-11 in 2013, and 0-12 in 2012.  That is clearly the biggest victory in the high school career for that group of seniors.  However, Episcopal was just too much for the Generals and the Eagles ran away with the district championship game 15-1.  Episcopal now prepares to match up with Providence. The District 4 Championship was much closer, at 7-5, than the early season meeting between Providence and Atlantic Coast.  That game was a 14-6 lopsided win.  But the Stallions held on to win their fourth straight district championship, the first for new head coach Brian Theiss.  They play host to Episcopal in the first round.

Bolles improved all season in District 5 and held off a very good Fleming Island team for the second time.  Teixeira appears to be hitting on all cylinders as he scored 7 goals in that game to advance the Bulldogs to face Ponte Vedra. Ponte Vedra survived an early game scare as Nease jumped out to a 4-0 lead   in the District 6 final before the Sharks could right the ship and get rolling.  Miles Silva ended up with 7 goals to lead PV to another district championship and set up the annual playoff meeting with Bolles.  PV is going to host this one. In district 7 we were treated to a fantastic game that had Matanzas out front early, St. Augustine coming back to tie, and Matanzas scoring the game winner with under a minute left in the game.  St. Augustine clanged at least three off the pipe as Matanzas hung on for the Championship.  The Pirates travel to Lake Mary for the first round.

The much anticipated District 8 finale turned out to be the Lake Mary Rams start to finish.  The Rams jumped out to a 3-0 lead and it was never relinquished.  Great Rams team defense kept the Seminoles at bay, only giving up a couple of goals in settled situations.  Alex Forehand had a great game offensively for Lake Mary scoring five goals.  12-7 was the final in this one. Lake Brantley won took the District 9 Championship with a 16-8 victory over Apopka.  This sets up a rematch of the 16-15 game won by the Patriots when they played Oviedo two weeks ago.  This is going to be a fantastic first round match up. Oviedo controlled District 10 all season going undefeated agains District opponents.  The Oviedo vs Hagerty rivalry is intense and neither team is ever out of it in one of these match ups.  Rylan Kortus and Adam Lager led the Lions with 4 and 3 goals respectively while Peter Bial recorded 19 saves in the goal.  This was the first District title for Oviedo since the they won in 2002 and 2003.

Lake Highland won the District 11 Championship, which isn’t surprising to anyone who follows Florida lacrosse.  Winter Park was game, however, after getting past Bishop Moore in the semi-final they lost 17-5 to LHP.  Lake Highland is having fun right now, which makes them very dangerous going into the playoff season.  Lake Highland has Boone on the road in the first round. Boone won District 12 with their third straight victory over Orange County rival Timber Creek.  The 12-7 win was a larger spread than most expected and Boone goes into the meeting with LHP a big underdog but with good momentum after putting together a solid 11-4 effort this season.

Dr. Phillips took District 13 for the second straight year.  The Panthers doubled up The First Academy 10-5 and set up a rematch of last year’s first round game with West Orange. The Panthers squeaked past West Orange last year 9-8 on their way to the Elite 8 in the state playoffs. West Orange took the District 14 Championship and looks to avenge three straight losses to Dr. Phillips.  The Warriors dropped a 19-6 regular season game to Dr. Phillips earlier this season and lost the first round game to them by a single goal last year. Jesuit survived one of the most evenly matched District playoffs in the state.  This one started with four teams that had a legitimate chance of winning this championship.  They beat Plant 8-7 in the Semi Final and ran away from Steinbrenner 13-7 in the final. Steinbrenner had upset the top seeded Berkeley Prep in their semi-final game.  Jesuit travels to Newsome for the first round.

Newsome ran through District 16 this season and are set to face Jesuit in the first round of the state playoffs.  These two teams didn’t play during the regular season and it should be a good game.  Jesuit’s two playoff opponents took Newsome to one goal games during the regular season including an OT game with Steinbrenner.  However, Newsome is undefeated and winning becomes a habit.  This is another good looking first round match up. In District 17 the third seeded Merrit Island team won the semi-final game over Holy Trinity and then knocked off the top seeded Rockledge team.  The Mustangs travel to Melbourne Central Catholic for the first round. MCC remained undefeated against district 18 opponents this season and took the District Championship.  They are set to host Merrit Island in the first round.

District 19’s Vero Beach is back on top after defeating Jensen Beach 9-3 in the final.  They travel to Jupiter looking to avenge a 10-6 regular season loss. Vero Beach is 15-2 this season and are looking to go deep in the playoffs this season. District 20 didn’t have quite the drama as last season with Jupiter going undefeated in district play this year.  They are the only Florida team to best IMG during the season and are looking for a final four run this season.  They are set to host Vero Beach in the first round and have their work cut out for them. Oxbridge beat King’s Academy in the District 21 final to remain undefeated in the district this season.  The Thunderwolves (14-5) take a 9 game winning streak to Wellington for the first round.

Wellington may have a losing record at 6-12 but they are District 22 champs.  The Wolverines avenged a regular season loss to American Heritage/Delray to win the championship 12-8 and set up a meeting with Oxbridge in the first round. Saint Andrews improved all season long after a first week loss to Stoneman Douglas.  They won the district 23 Championship over Pope John Paul II to set up a rematch with Douglas in the first round.  St. Andrews is going to have to win on the road to keep their championship hopes alive.

In District 24 it was Douglas over Pine Crest 15-9 to keep a 14 game winning streak alive.  These guys haven’t lost they dropped a 10-6 game to Jupiter.  Douglas used a ten goal run and a 5 goal effort by Ryan Brodsky to make a statement that this group if playoff ready.  SA vs Pine Crest is going to be a huge battle. Not much drama in District 25 where Cardinal Mooney rolled to a district championship with a 22-4 win over an outmatched ODA Sarasota after winning the semi final game 22-1.  Things get tougher from here on out for the Cougars as they go on the road to Bishop Verot.

Bishop Verot survived a tough District 26 tournament that saw a 4-11 Ft. Myers team catch fire at the right time and upset top seeded Cypress Lake in OT and then put up 14 goals in a great effort that came up short to BV.  BV held off three seeded Estero by two goals and then battled to a 17-14 win for the championship.  They host Mooney for the first round.  Are they battle hardened or worn out from the district tournament? District 27’s Gulf Coast didn’t lose to a district opponent this season and cruised to the district championship with a 19-8 win over Naples.  The Sharks head to Barron Collier for the first round and they are going to need to be on top of their game for this one.  The Sharks are a little thinner than they were at the start of the season and will have to control the ball and the pace of play to make it happen. Barron Collier predictably won the District 28 championship.  Barron Collier man handled Gulf Coast 15-6 in their first meeting.  That game was early in the year and Gulf Coast was still reeling from the loss of Desorcy and looked to self destruct in that one.  If Barron Collier gets Gulf Coast’s best game this week the Cougars are going to need to bring their “A” game as well.  BC is a clear favorite in this one but it’s not a given.

St. Thomas Aquinas is the top team in the FLN Media Poll and the Al Packer Ford Coaches Poll.  While those are just opinions they are most certainly the number one team in District 29 and the proved that with an 18-3 win over University School and are currently 17-0.  STA sure looks to be beating down a path to the final four, but they still have some work to do and first on the list is a trip to Cypress Bay to take on the District 30 champs. In District 30 it’s Cypress Bay with the championship.  The Lightning are an impressive 17-2 this year but one of their two losses was to University School who just got beat 18-3 by STA.  It’s an uphill battle for Cypress Bay to advance past the next round.

If it’s high level drama you enjoy then you should have been at the District 31 tournament.  Everything looked to be pointing toward a Gulliver Prep vs Columbus Catholic final when Belen Jesuit stepped up and knocked off the favorite in the semi-final.  Michael Abud was the hero in this one as he scored with just four ticks on the clock to secure what has got to be one of the top upsets of the season.  Gulliver Prep was able to hold off the Wolverines in the championship, however, and take District 31.  Gulliver travels to Miami Palmetto for the first round.  Gulliver Prep ran away from Palmetto during the regular season by a score of 17-2. Miami’s high drama wasn’t restricted to District 31.  Over in District 32 Miami Palmetto and Coral Reef played a game for the ages.  Coral Reef scored four goals in under five minutes to tie up up with less than a minute to go.  Palmetto pulled it out in double OT.  It was a great win for a great championship.  The Panthers are going to need to re-focus onto the task at hand now, however, as they host Gulliver Prep in the first round.