Above – Timber Creek goalie Bennett Hopkins readies for a shot against Milton – Photo by Brooke Davis Lake Mary did not play in the second day of the Florida/Georgia Showdown brought to you by OrlandoLacrosse.com but Timber Creek joined the party.

The first game of the day was a defensive battle between Lambert and Barron Collier.  Zach Woods anchored a fantastic defensive effort that not only held Lambert to only seven goals, they held them to just seven while playing the vast majority of the game on defense.  Barron Collier was just not clicking offensively on Saturday and had way too many unforced errors early in their offensive possessions to every really give them a shot at winning this game. Lambert’s defense was certainly part of the problem for BC, they did bring the pressure and played an excellent game.  Lambert’s goals were scored by Alex Walker (2), Congrad McEvoy (2), Eric Overbay, Trye Arnold, and Jake Alesia.  Drew Goodrich and Tad DeMallie scored for BC. Milton took on Timber Creek in the next game.  Milton controlled much of the game, especially the second quarter, but TC didn’t quit and ended up making a decent game of it finishing four goals down. Luke Jenkins put Milton out in front early.  The Eagles got the ball again on the next face off and had the pressure on the Timber Creek defense.  Within the first two minutes that had several shots right on the doorstep either turned away by TC Goalie Bennett Hopkins or just missing the post. After a barrage of shots Charlie Gallagher picked up an offensive GB and put it away to make it 2-0. Paker Quigley, who had a great day for TC, scored on an unsettled transition and that was followed up by a great dodge and goal by Marco Montero.  Montero and Connor Young had a great battle all day with Montero making some nice dodges and scoring a couple of goals and Young had a great take away which he pushed down the field and was eventually converted for a goal.  It was a fun match up to watch. That was about as close as it would get as Milton put together a couple of runs and pushed it to a 12-4 lead when freshman Cory McDonough took a pass from sophomore Grayson Bluhm and made a great underhand shovel shot with just 6:00 left in the third. FLN Photographer Brooke Davis caught this great sequence as Nate Gillan got below his defender and split the slide getting the shot off just before he gets planted into the turf. Suddenly Timber Creek came back to life as sophomore EJ Wheeler decided the young guns from Timber Creek needed to answer back and he made a great effort as he kept his feet moving and scored on the wrap around to bring it to 12-5. The scoring didn’t stop there as sophomore Tripp Curtis and senior Chris Condon added another pair for Milton to make it 14-5. Timber Creek would score five straight in the fourth as Nate Gillan scored a pair of goals, Steven Torres added another, Marco Montero finished his hat trick and Paker Quigley got in on the action and with 4:39 left in the game it was 14-10. With just under 4:00 left Milton took a time out to right the ship and scored soon after to make it 15-10.  Torres added another for TC to end the score fest and Milton would add to the Georgia win total with the 15-11 victory.

The third game of the day saw Centennial cruise to a 23-3 win over an overmatched Gulf Coast team as they built on a 9 goal first quarter.  Nate Solomon passed Casey Powell for  career high school points as he scored 5 goals and 4 assists.  Bother Nicky added 5 goals and 2 assists while Zach Levy scored 4 and Brendan Spence added three.  Of Nicky Solomon his head coach, Bryan Wallace, said, “Nicky’s IQ is off the charts.  He doesn’t play like a freshman at all.  He’s a big physical kid as a freshman and he loves to find the back of the net.  They (he and his brother Nate) look for each other out there and really play well together.” Wallace was glad his team made the trip down to Florida. “It’s always great to get the kids out on spring break and spend some time together.  We take a week off after this to rest up and then it’s back to Georgia to get ready for the Lagacy Cup where we’ll play McCallie School (TN) and MBA (Montgomery Bell Academy-TN) and then get ready for a playoff run.

Northview edged Plant 9-6 in the final game of a very successful Florida/Georgia showdown brought to you by OrlandoLacrosse.com. Lake Mary head coach and event director Gary Robinson said, “We are were very pleased by the response we received in our first year. Every team, their coaches, and parents were a complete joy to deal with both prior and during the event. The ability to have the Georgia teams meet and play at one site with Florida teams provided a unique opportunity to expand our lacrosse friendships and enjoy this great game.  The Georgia teams are talented and well coached and hosting them certainly provides a benefit for our Florida programs.  I would like to thank all the coaches from both the Georgia and Florida programs for making this happen. In particular, Rich Wehman, head coach from Lambert High School, was a great help in organizing the Georgia schools. We have already received strong interest for more Georgia teams to join us next year and we look forward to including as many Florida teams as is possible to highlight lacrosse in the southeastern United States.”                 Nate Gillan took the ball behind and wrapped around for a low to low finish to make ti 14-10 with 4:39 left After a time out Milton score to get control back and make it 15-10 with 3:30 left in the game.   Torres scored to make it 15-11