Team Florida “Game of the Week”
Written by Lee Roggenburg on . Posted in Uncategorized.
Team Florida Game of the Week at FloridaLacrosseNews.comÂ
This week we are beginning a new feature, the Team Florida Game of the Week. Each week we are going to pick out a game that features what we think is the best match up of the most talented teams on the schedule. This week’s Team Florida game of the week is Wednesday night’s match up between Ponte Vedra and Timber Creek. Ponte Vedra is having a fantastic year and hasn’t lost a game since they fell 10-3 to Lake Highland back on February 25th. Timber Creek started off the season with 7 straight victories including wins over highly ranked teams Lake Brantley, Boone, and Vero Beach before dropping a couple of close games to Bolles and Winter Park.Â
Both teams are stacked with some of the state’s top players. Ponte Vedra features Mike Power (Penn) at attack, Derrick Miller (High Point) and Bob Harding (Ursinus) at the defensive end and Middie F/O Mac Walker (Rollins). Ponte Vedra also boasts one of the state’s top goalies in Conor Peaks, senior defenseman Chris Damm (Skidmore), and senior middie Matt Jones (Mercer).  A couple of top notch juniors, Brendan Francis (Navy) and Erik Ederdice (CW Post), round out a very deep PV squad.  Timber Creek is led on attack by the prolific goal scorer, junior Jacob Rooney (Hofstra) and senior Blake Gwizaldski (Florida Southern) and sophomore sensation Scott Turner. High scoring middies Kyle Plaugher (Florida Southern) and Max Bush (Jacksonville) help give Timber Creek’s offense the firepower that has kept it scoring almost 16 goals per game. Jarod Kahre anchors an inexperienced but effective defense with junior Andrew McCormick in the goal.Â
Timber Creek’s offense has been able to score goals, averaging 11 goals per game against their four highest ranked opponents. Even in both losses Timber Creek managed to score 10 goals.  However, Ponte Vedra’s defense has only allowed a stingy 4.3 goals per game. The Sharks have the best defense that Timber Creek will see this season and while the offense has not been putting up huge numbers they consistently do enough to win. Â
Timber Creek is does have a lack of depth on the defensive end of the field but the PV offense has had trouble scoring against the three top ten ranked teams they have played, averaging only 7.3 goals per game against those teams. But the defense has made up for that by only giving up the same 7.3 goals per game. This game will come down to whether or not Timber Creek’s offense can find a way to score against that Ponte Vedra defense. A high scoring game should favor Timber Creek and a low scoring slug fest will go PV’s way.Â
We’ll find out Wednesday when the two teams face off in Ponte Vedra.