Each week during the season we will post our Weekly Top Ten Coach’s Poll. We poll our esteemed panel of experts at the end of every week to see who moved up, down, and out of our weekly poll. Our panel represents all geographic regions of Florida and various club programs.  They are all proven fans of the game and great friends of FloridaLacrosseNews.com.  Please feel free to disagree with them and leave your own comments.       Meet our panel; Ron Miller – Naples Florida Garry Robinson – Lake Mary Tom West – Ponte Vedra Jimmy Oliver – LaxPower.com Dr. Matt Ort – Olympia High School Gary Hendrzak – Bishop Moore Catholic School Jim Piggot – Gulliver Prep John Matzke – Tampa Jesuit Reed Reynolds – Bucchholz High School Mike Jones – Maclay Riordan Cheatham – Benjamin RJ Dawson – St. Andrew’s Terry Crowley – St. Thomas Aquinas Allen Rice – Leon High School Bill Baker – West Orange High School The pre-season poll is always tough.  What do you base your votes on? Last year? What you saw in the summer clubs while some players were away at recruiting events? Fall ball where nobody ever has their full roster? It’s a guess.  So here are the Pre-Season “guesses” from our panel. 1-      St. Andrews – St. Andrew’s won it all last year so it makes sense they start at the top this season.  They play Bolles, Palm Beach Gardens, and Benjamin in week one. 2-      Lake Highalnd – State Champion runners up starts in second place this year.  The Highlanders play Oviedo, Ponte Vedra, and Jupiter in week one. 3-      St. Thomas Aquinas – STA is going to make some noise this year.  They play American Hetitage and Columbus this week. 4-      Jupiter – Final fours last year.  They begin this season with the fourth spot and play Martin County, Lake Highland, and Lake Mary this week. 5-      Ponte Vedra – PV hosts Providence, Lake Highland, and Menendez this week. 6-      Benjamin – Travels to Episcopal Jacksonville and hosts St. Andrew’s in week one. 7-      Lake Brantley – Goes to Lake Howell this week and then hosts Oviedo. 8-      Pine Crest – Coach Shanahan takes his team to Ransom Everglades and then hosts Taravella this week. 9-      Creekside – Lots of talk about Creekside this year.  The Knights take on Boca on Monday and face Starr’s Mill later in the week. 10-   Boca Raton – Boca hung around our top ten all season last year but was unable to make big moves.  We’ll see how they do this year as they start Monday vs. Creekside.  They finish the week with Park Vista and Dwyer. Other teams getting votes in our pre-season poll include Winter Park, Bartram Trail, Tampa Jesuit, Maclay, Bolles, Lake Mary, Episcopal, Hagerty, and Bishop Moore. Gary Robinson had this to say about his pre-season poll, “St. Thomas and Lake Brantley have the most athletic squads in the state. St. Thomas model of a large private school with strong athletic support and success is finally taking form for lacrosse. They are deep, talented, and are athletic at every position.” “5-7 are all about even. Creekside and Brantley have questions in the goal, and whether they will be able to compete with the top teams. Creekside also has a new offensive coordinator; curious to see how that pans out,” Mike Jones. Tampa Jesuit’s John Matzke thinks the top five have pulled away from the pack, “I think there are five elite teams and a pack traveling behind.” We asked our panel for their picks for the “game of the week.”  We got very little agreement.  This may be the most exciting week one we have ever seen.  The state’s top teams are not easing into this thing. Bill Baker, “Creekside vs. Maclay. I’ve heard great things about both programs heading into this season. Maclay has a number of college-commits on their roster (I believe even a pair going to Duke) and has long-established themselves as the team in the Big Bend area. It will be fun to see if they can make the jump to state contender now. Creekside is talked to be the new top dog in the Jacksonville area. Good luck to both teams!” Lake Highland Prep vs PV – “Two great programs going at it….Always a chance to see this happen again in May,” Ron Miller. “Game of the week is Benjamin vs. St. Andrews @ Benjamin 8PM on Saturday night. Match -up between two great teams,” Riordan Cheatham. “Maclay vs. Hagerty, Monday at the Moe’s classic. Lots of athleticism and great players in this one. Maclay has some great offensive weapons, including Tucker Schwarz (Merrimack) and Tripp Transou (Duke). Also have a great defensive player in Teddy Transou (Duke),” Mike Jones.