FHSAA Season Preview – District 1
Written by Lee Roggenburg on . Posted in Uncategorized.
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Our 2016 Season Preview finds a big change from last year right out of the gate. The western reaches of the Panhandle now has it’s own district. The Pensacola area is a big success story for the growth of the game. There are five teams in the Pensacola area competing in district play and another team playing independent. The idea that six high schools in the western region of the panhandle would field FHSAA boys lacrosse teams would have been crazy just a few short years ago.
Gulf Breeze has the experience and the history to be considered the favorite to win this district this year. With only five losses last season, all coming at the hands of either Maclay or Chiles (both in District 2 this year) they could run the table on the district.
While Gulf Breeze is going to be young this year they have a solid balance of talented newcomers and experienced returners. The Offense is lead by returning attackman TJ Durst. The senior led the team in scoring last season and will be a big part of the Dolphins offense. With addition of sophomore Noah Hass and junior Harold Hill Coach Dorf has an attack line he feels is solid.
Defensively, Oglethorpe commit, senior Nick Valetto will be looked to for leadership. He teams up with senior Hunter Musil and Sophomore Mathew Hawkins.
Head Coach Matt Dorf believes a long standing rivalry in other sports will cross over into lacrosse. Of the Gulf Breeze vs Catholic High School cross-town rivalry he said, “There has always been some sort of rivalry with these schools in every sport and now that they both have lacrosse programs , the rivalry will only get heated up more.”
He went on to say, “District One will have some exciting Lacrosse this season. With the addition of West Florida, Washington High School, Pensacola High, and the addition of Seacoast Collegiate there should be some exciting lacrosse played in District One on the panhandle.”
Gulf Breeze is hosting a JM24 night on March 9th when they play Catholic HS. Half of the gate and all other proceeds are to be donated to the John Michael cause. We’ll get more information on that event out to you as we get it.
Pensacola Catholic finished last year with a record of 10-8. Although they didn’t fair as well in district play (2-8) they did very well against the other area Pensacola teams and could seriously compete with Gulf Breeze for the district this season. The Crusaders lost to Gulf Breeze twice in 2015 by scores of 4-1 and 3-2.
Look for defensive impact from Hayden Broussard. The senior is in his second year of play but has the speed and talent to get the job done. He’ll play in front of junior goal tender Jack Bartkowski who had an impressive 79% save percentage last season. Speedster Eric Buer, senior, is a very talented middie who will be the fastest player on the field most games. A pair of juniors, twins Alex and Will Knight lead this attack unit.
Coach Bartkowski and Gulf Breeze’s Coach Dorf are both looking forward to carrying on the rivalry. The two started theGulf Breeze rec program together several years ago.
Along with Gulf Breeze, Pensacola High School is the other school that began play back in 2013. They have previously played as an independent program, however, so this is their first year in district competition. The second meeting between the two last year was decided by only a single goal. The March 15th meeting between Gulf Breeze and Pensacola should not be missed.
Pensacola junior midfielder Nehemiah Jones is looking to have a break out season this year. The three sport athlete started to blossom at the end of last season. On attack, senior Christian Fish, the big man on the crease, is a serious threat utilizing his four years of experience, size, and hard pinpoint shots. Pensacola’s biggest impact player, however, is Billy Michael. This is the goalie’s third year as a starter and Coach Rodney Scott says his confidence is at an all time high.
Only nine players from last year’s roster are coming back but over forty showed up for tryouts. Every coach knows that numbers are a requirement to improve and build a program. Players like Reid Sellers, a freshman with four years’ experience, excellent athletes like Tristan Wu and Jamar Robinson are guys that Coach Scott knows he can build a program around.
West Florida and Washington both played as independents last season going 3-10 and 2-12 respectively. 2015 was the inaugural season for both programs. We’ll see some progress along with the typical growing pains for these two teams.
Growing pains and progress are most likely in the future for Seacoast Collegiate as well. Head Coach Chuck Slaven is rolling out the first Varsity Sports program at the small charter school in Santa Rosa. Despite an enrollment of only 136 students they have managed to field rosters for both a boys and girls team. We look forward to seeing this new “hotbed” grow. We think it’s pretty cool that they chose lacrosse for the first athletic program!!
Coach Slaven feels that his program is in good shape for a brand new program thanks to ground work laid by folks like Duke Pope and Gene Speni. These are the people who started the Destin Rockets youth program and has produced a core group of players on the Seacoast team that have over five years of experience. Slaven himself comes from the program and he has been in advocate for the game in the Seaside and Watercolor areas for several years.
He was quick to point out that grants from the St. Joe Foundation and US Lacrosse were both instrumental in getting the program started at Seacoast Collegiate.
Although they have some experience they are still going to be thin. With a roster of 14 players they are going to need to be in great shape.
Look for offensive leadership from the big Slaven twins. Freshmen Bryce and Morgan Slaven are a pair of 6′ plus freshmen who will be impact players on the attack and midfield.
On the midfield, along with Bryce, is senior Trip Hagen and junior Clayne Slaven. Joining Morgan at attack is fellow freshman Tyson Rogers. One of only two seniors on the team, Dugan McAdams anchors the defensive unit along with sophomore Sam Hosford.
Back to the main preview page
Our 2016 Season Preview finds a big change from last year right out of the gate. The western reaches of the Panhandle now has it’s own district. The Pensacola area is a big success story for the growth of the game. There are five teams in the Pensacola area competing in district play and another team playing independent. The idea that six high schools in the western region of the panhandle would field FHSAA boys lacrosse teams would have been crazy just a few short years ago.
Gulf Breeze has the experience and the history to be considered the favorite to win this district this year. With only five losses last season, all coming at the hands of either Maclay or Chiles (both in District 2 this year) they could run the table on the district.
While Gulf Breeze is going to be young this year they have a solid balance of talented newcomers and experienced returners. The Offense is lead by returning attackman TJ Durst. The senior led the team in scoring last season and will be a big part of the Dolphins offense. With addition of sophomore Noah Hass and junior Harold Hill Coach Dorf has an attack line he feels is solid.
Defensively, Oglethorpe commit, senior Nick Valetto will be looked to for leadership. He teams up with senior Hunter Musil and Sophomore Mathew Hawkins.
Head Coach Matt Dorf believes a long standing rivalry in other sports will cross over into lacrosse. Of the Gulf Breeze vs Catholic High School cross-town rivalry he said, “There has always been some sort of rivalry with these schools in every sport and now that they both have lacrosse programs , the rivalry will only get heated up more.”
He went on to say, “District One will have some exciting Lacrosse this season. With the addition of West Florida, Washington High School, Pensacola High, and the addition of Seacoast Collegiate there should be some exciting lacrosse played in District One on the panhandle.”
Gulf Breeze is hosting a JM24 night on March 9th when they play Catholic HS. Half of the gate and all other proceeds are to be donated to the John Michael cause. We’ll get more information on that event out to you as we get it.
Pensacola Catholic finished last year with a record of 10-8. Although they didn’t fair as well in district play (2-8) they did very well against the other area Pensacola teams and could seriously compete with Gulf Breeze for the district this season. The Crusaders lost to Gulf Breeze twice in 2015 by scores of 4-1 and 3-2.
Look for defensive impact from Hayden Broussard. The senior is in his second year of play but has the speed and talent to get the job done. He’ll play in front of junior goal tender Jack Bartkowski who had an impressive 79% save percentage last season. Speedster Eric Buer, senior, is a very talented middie who will be the fastest player on the field most games. A pair of juniors, twins Alex and Will Knight lead this attack unit.
Coach Bartkowski and Gulf Breeze’s Coach Dorf are both looking forward to carrying on the rivalry. The two started theGulf Breeze rec program together several years ago.
Along with Gulf Breeze, Pensacola High School is the other school that began play back in 2013. They have previously played as an independent program, however, so this is their first year in district competition. The second meeting between the two last year was decided by only a single goal. The March 15th meeting between Gulf Breeze and Pensacola should not be missed.
Pensacola junior midfielder Nehemiah Jones is looking to have a break out season this year. The three sport athlete started to blossom at the end of last season. On attack, senior Christian Fish, the big man on the crease, is a serious threat utilizing his four years of experience, size, and hard pinpoint shots. Pensacola’s biggest impact player, however, is Billy Michael. This is the goalie’s third year as a starter and Coach Rodney Scott says his confidence is at an all time high.
Only nine players from last year’s roster are coming back but over forty showed up for tryouts. Every coach knows that numbers are a requirement to improve and build a program. Players like Reid Sellers, a freshman with four years’ experience, excellent athletes like Tristan Wu and Jamar Robinson are guys that Coach Scott knows he can build a program around.
West Florida and Washington both played as independents last season going 3-10 and 2-12 respectively. 2015 was the inaugural season for both programs. We’ll see some progress along with the typical growing pains for these two teams.
Growing pains and progress are most likely in the future for Seacoast Collegiate as well. Head Coach Chuck Slaven is rolling out the first Varsity Sports program at the small charter school in Santa Rosa. Despite an enrollment of only 136 students they have managed to field rosters for both a boys and girls team. We look forward to seeing this new “hotbed” grow. We think it’s pretty cool that they chose lacrosse for the first athletic program!!
Coach Slaven feels that his program is in good shape for a brand new program thanks to ground work laid by folks like Duke Pope and Gene Speni. These are the people who started the Destin Rockets youth program and has produced a core group of players on the Seacoast team that have over five years of experience. Slaven himself comes from the program and he has been in advocate for the game in the Seaside and Watercolor areas for several years.
He was quick to point out that grants from the St. Joe Foundation and US Lacrosse were both instrumental in getting the program started at Seacoast Collegiate.
Although they have some experience they are still going to be thin. With a roster of 14 players they are going to need to be in great shape.
Look for offensive leadership from the big Slaven twins. Freshmen Bryce and Morgan Slaven are a pair of 6′ plus freshmen who will be impact players on the attack and midfield.
On the midfield, along with Bryce, is senior Trip Hagen and junior Clayne Slaven. Joining Morgan at attack is fellow freshman Tyson Rogers. One of only two seniors on the team, Dugan McAdams anchors the defensive unit along with sophomore Sam Hosford.
Back to the main preview page
