Your dutiful backup writer (who includes few details and would rather take pictures) decided to drive to Orlando yesterday and attend one of the two play-off games in town.  Driving north, I decided to check in with Lee Roggenburg and pick the better of the two contests.  After detailed research, it was clear to him that the Berkeley Prep – Lake Highland Prep match-up offered the best opportunity to see a potential upset. His thinking, while often backwards in this writer’s opinion, was pretty sound this time around.  Lake Highland did not appear to have as strong a team as in years past, having survived two very close games with come from behind wins to make it to the Final Eight.  Berkeley, meanwhile, gave IMG all it could handle during the regular season, losing twice by one goal each time and winning its district against a tough Plant squad. Lake Mary, on the other hand, defeated Lee’s pick to win the state, Ponte Vedra, so that was basically good enough for Mr. Frosted Forecaster.  He later backed off his choice by asking me whose decision was it to go to the LHP – BP game?  It was his, but as the pilot of my own car, I could have opted to go with my original plan.  However, the risk was greater – what would Lee have said if the scores had been reversed?  I’m not sure I could have taken it… Well, you know the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey used to say. Lake Highland, according to the many fans in attendance, played one its best games of the year, basically firing on all cylinders. Berkeley, the road team on this beautiful Florida evening, by all accounts had an off night, not playing nearly up to its previous levels.  Maybe the Buccaneers feared a perennial state contender and were intimidated by the Highlanders’ well deserved reputation.  Maybe they knew Coach Chris Spaulding is one of the best and has his team peaking at the end of the season.  Who knows?  The Bucs (great mascot for a Tampa team) just couldn’t get going in this one, but they did reach the Final Eight for the first time and served notice for the future. I can remember the early days of Oxbridge lacrosse and the hiring of Danny Loftus and Nick O’Hara at Jupiter.  It was obvious those programs were headed upward and I feel the same about Berkeley. The relatively new head of upper school is from Baltimore and played lax in college. I spoke with him on the sideline and was impressed.  He’s another reason the sport is growing so quickly in the Sunshine State.  While not involved in coaching, he’s an in house expert on the right way to run a program. Lake Mary prevailed over a very tough Bolles group by one, 9-8. Maybe “prevailed” overstated the result, but they did manage a hard fought victory. I have included the links to the Orlando Sentinel articles below which will have more details about goals, assists and such. Bolles at Lake Mary article Berkeley Prep at Lake Highland Prep article Good luck to all four teams next weekend!