FHSAA Season Preview – District 17
Written by Lee Roggenburg on . Posted in Uncategorized.
This year the preview is being brought to you by the Lacrosse News Network Florida Classic. This fantastic event is schedule for February 27th and is headlined by the oldest rivalry in college sports, Cornell vs Hobart Men’s Lacrosse. The big game is flanked by Oxbridge vs Saint Andrews and Benjamin vs Lake Highland Prep.
Be sure to get your tickets before they sell out! Click here for tickets!
District 17
District 17 is merely last year’s District 25 with a new number. Long-time Head Coach Clayton Wight steps down from Cardinal Mooney after building a program that has made the second round of the FHSAA playoffs the last two seasons. Derek Wagner steps up to take his place and they are still the favorite to take the path to Jupiter from this district.
Cardinal Mooney went 10-6 last season and ran the table in district at 6-0. Two of their six losses were out of state and one was to the IMG juggernaut. The other losses were to Gulf Coast 12-10 and two were to state quarterfinalist Barron Collier. A nice road win over Tampa Jesuit helped with the late season preparation for the playoffs and they were impressive in winning their first round FHSAA game over Bishop Verot on the road.
The schedule has taken a step up as Berkeley Prep has been added as a road game and Oxbridge Academy comes visiting late in the season.
ODA Sarasota finished second in the District with a 5-3 conference record and a winning record of 7-6 overall. They were not able to defeat any of the better schools on their schedule but they did take care of business otherwise. Like so many schools with a similar profile the question becomes how do they take that next step into the upper tier?
Coach Philip Meyer wrote to us:
“On offense, returning starter Ian Martin (Sophomore, Attack, 2019) should have a break out year. He led our team in goals last year despite missing two games with an ankle injury. Midfielder McCabe Balance (Junior, Mid/Defense/Defensive mid/Fogo; 2018) is solid between the lines and is someone who plays many roles on our team. He will be assisted by newcomer Ethan Bertrand (sophomore, middie, 2019) who is expected to be solid between the lines, and be one of our leading scorers. Our Defense will be anchored by Owen Han (Senior, defense, 2016) who has been a four year starter and gets better each year. He will be assisted by Dakota Dickerson (sophomore, defense, 2019) who will prove to be one of our shut down defenseman, who is also capable of taking the ball up the field. Finally, our defense will be anchored by goalie Aidan Dowdy (Senior, goalie, 2016) who has been our goalie for four years. Jon Eichenbaum (Senior, Attack, 2016) has committed to Miami of Ohio.
The team to beat is clearly Cardinal Mooney who has dominated our district for the past three years. St. Stephens is always a big game for us, and I expect them to compete for a district title this year. Also, newcomer Riverview HS, who will be independent will be an incredibly talented and well coached team and will be tough to beat. We are excited they are joining the FHSAA and we hope they will inspire the other public school teams in our area to pick up the sport.”
St. Stephen’s Episcopal took a nice step forward last season as they went from 1-12 in 2014 to 5-7 in 2015 but as with ODA they were not competitive with the better teams on the schedule, but at least they are now pointed in the right direction.
Coach Jamie Carver goes into his second season at the helm.
Sarasota Military struggled to a 1-12 record and 0-6 in conference and will need to improve in all facets to jump start their program.
New Coach Joe Collis, the AD, will look to right the ship.
Be sure to get your tickets before they sell out! Click here for tickets!
District 17
District 17 is merely last year’s District 25 with a new number. Long-time Head Coach Clayton Wight steps down from Cardinal Mooney after building a program that has made the second round of the FHSAA playoffs the last two seasons. Derek Wagner steps up to take his place and they are still the favorite to take the path to Jupiter from this district.
Cardinal Mooney went 10-6 last season and ran the table in district at 6-0. Two of their six losses were out of state and one was to the IMG juggernaut. The other losses were to Gulf Coast 12-10 and two were to state quarterfinalist Barron Collier. A nice road win over Tampa Jesuit helped with the late season preparation for the playoffs and they were impressive in winning their first round FHSAA game over Bishop Verot on the road.
The schedule has taken a step up as Berkeley Prep has been added as a road game and Oxbridge Academy comes visiting late in the season.
ODA Sarasota finished second in the District with a 5-3 conference record and a winning record of 7-6 overall. They were not able to defeat any of the better schools on their schedule but they did take care of business otherwise. Like so many schools with a similar profile the question becomes how do they take that next step into the upper tier?
Coach Philip Meyer wrote to us:
“On offense, returning starter Ian Martin (Sophomore, Attack, 2019) should have a break out year. He led our team in goals last year despite missing two games with an ankle injury. Midfielder McCabe Balance (Junior, Mid/Defense/Defensive mid/Fogo; 2018) is solid between the lines and is someone who plays many roles on our team. He will be assisted by newcomer Ethan Bertrand (sophomore, middie, 2019) who is expected to be solid between the lines, and be one of our leading scorers. Our Defense will be anchored by Owen Han (Senior, defense, 2016) who has been a four year starter and gets better each year. He will be assisted by Dakota Dickerson (sophomore, defense, 2019) who will prove to be one of our shut down defenseman, who is also capable of taking the ball up the field. Finally, our defense will be anchored by goalie Aidan Dowdy (Senior, goalie, 2016) who has been our goalie for four years. Jon Eichenbaum (Senior, Attack, 2016) has committed to Miami of Ohio.
The team to beat is clearly Cardinal Mooney who has dominated our district for the past three years. St. Stephens is always a big game for us, and I expect them to compete for a district title this year. Also, newcomer Riverview HS, who will be independent will be an incredibly talented and well coached team and will be tough to beat. We are excited they are joining the FHSAA and we hope they will inspire the other public school teams in our area to pick up the sport.”
St. Stephen’s Episcopal took a nice step forward last season as they went from 1-12 in 2014 to 5-7 in 2015 but as with ODA they were not competitive with the better teams on the schedule, but at least they are now pointed in the right direction.
Coach Jamie Carver goes into his second season at the helm.
Sarasota Military struggled to a 1-12 record and 0-6 in conference and will need to improve in all facets to jump start their program.
New Coach Joe Collis, the AD, will look to right the ship.
