Above – Hiram Carter shoots on goal after winning a face off – photo by Ginger Carter

One of the most intriguing match up of the first round takes place tonight at Tom Story Field, Lake Brantley High School.  Face off is at 7:00 and if you want to see the story unfold I suggest you make your way there. Two teams with something to prove tonight.  Hagerty has accumulated a record of 10-10.  Not impressive on it’s face.  But when you factor in that the fact that nine of those games were against teams who either appeared on our Top Ten Coaches Poll  or at least garnered votes this season and a tenth was against a very highly ranked 11-3 Lovett (GA) team that record gets a little more impressive.  They started the season shocking everyone but themselves with an OT win over Benjamin at the Moe’s Southwest Grill Lax Classic.  They followed up that incredible win, however, going 1-3 in the next four games.  Later in the season came a four game losing streak including a loss to district rival Oviedo.  But this talented team has not folded their tent, has not given up, and finished out the regular season winning five of their final six games and got some redemption with a 14-10 win over Oviedo to get the District 10 title. Lake Brantley started off the season not shocking anyone.  They did what they always do.  They started on a roll, and rolled and rolled.  They put up big numbers and won by big differentials.  Then the bad news started coming.  Lake Brantley had used ineligible players which led to the suspensions of one of the nicest guys in Central Florida lacrosse, Brian Theiss.  Then their super-star middie, Tim Gehlbach went down with a shoulder injury.  All of the sudden a 13-0 team on a roll became a 6-9 team missing a huge chunk of their offensive fire power.  (They forfeited their first six wins of the season.) Lake Brantley struggled to find a way to replace not only the goal production of Gehlbach but the opportunities that are created for others when that kind of threat is on the field.  They lost 4 of 5 games averaging only 5.25 goals per game in those four losses.  However, good fortune smiles on Lake Brantley.  Had they been in a five or six team district the forfeited games could have caused them to miss the playoffs all together.  But, they took the numbe

r four seed into their district tournament and cleaned everyone’s clock and now have a new offensive scheme and look ready for play off lacrosse. And now, here we are.  A 9-11 Lake Brantley team set to host a 10-10 Hagerty team in one of the most unpredictable, exciting match ups of the first round and I can’t wait to see it! Questions that I’m looking to get answered tonight. Lake Brantley is fast.  Are they fast enough to match up with Hagerty? Hagerty’s young Granite Porcher has all kinds of speed.  He can get lose in the midfield and run transition that a very skilled Hagerty attack can capitalize on. Connor Knaresboro has had a great season at the face off X.  Lake Brantley has made some changes there and Tim Marinan has taken over the FOGO role and done well.  Who will have the advantage tonight. Bernhardt has made the move from attack to middie.  Will the 1-2 punch from the sophomore combination of Bernhardt and Austin Guerrina be enough to overcome the experience of Hagerty’s Corey Schulte and Keith Smellie?  Will Bernhardt’s move to middie account for Gehlbach or leave a hole at attack? Kevin Collin, Jacob Collins, and Chris Carpenter make a strong attack unit for Hagerty.  They move constantly and count on off-ball movement and quick feeds and shots more than just one on one dodging. Will they be crafty enough to get the job down against Hiram Carter and the McKennas (Will and Jacob?) Hagerty is deep at the midfield.  They are a solid nine deep with guys like Christian O’Rourke and Matt Haible playing on the third line.  These guys are first line quality players.  Lake Brantley often only carries six or seven middies on the roster.  Will they be deep enough if Hagerty can get the pace up? We are looking forward to getting answers to all of these questions tonight and we’ll be there to live tweet the game.  So follow @FloridaLX tonight on Twitter to keep up with the scores. The winner of this game will move onto face the winner of the Lake Highland Prep vs. Boone HS game.