Bartram Trail girls lacrosse defeats Steinbrenner in semifinal, will play for FHSAA title

Bartram Trail punched its ticket for the Florida High School Athletic Association girls lacrosse final, edging Lutz Steinbrenner 5-4 Friday night in the Class 2A semifinal and keeping its quest alive for a state title at Paradise Coast Sports Complex in Naples.

The Bears (20-3) advance to Saturday's Class 2A championship at 5 p.m. against perennial state power Vero Beach, which narrowly beat St. Thomas Aquinas 7-6 in the earlier semifinal.

Ryann Frechette netted a first-half hat trick for the Bears, while Maggie Bennett and Marina Dean also scored.

Patience and defense made the difference for Bartram Trail, which scored all five of its goals in the opening period. Steinbrenner (21-2), winner of its past 16 games, cut the lead to 5-3 and then to 5-4 on a Kate Prentice goal with 14:08 to play, but couldn't find a way past the Bears' defense.

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Bartram Trail extended its winning streak to 12 games entering Saturday's clash against Vero Beach, the state's top seed.

The teams have met on three previous occasions in the final four. In 2021, Vero Beach eliminated the Bears 14-8 in the state semifinal; in 2015, Vero Beach won 17-3 in the final; and in between, in 2016, Bartram Trail won 8-7 in overtime for the first-ever FHSAA lacrosse championship for a Northeast Florida school.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: High school girls lacrosse: Bartram Trail defeats Steinbrenner in FHSAA semifinal