PREP ROUNDUP: Mooney tames Saint Stephen's for 1A-11 boys lacrosse title
SARASOTA — Even though the teams did not play during the regular season there was plenty of familiarity between the Saint Stephen’s Episcopal and Cardinal Mooney Catholic boys lacrosse teams.
When they are not playing for their respective school teams, the players compete on the same travel teams during the offseason.
There were no secrets when they met in Thursday night's district final.
The Cougars put on their track shoes and raced up and down the artificial turf at John Heath Field at Austin Smithers Stadium, sprinting past the Falcons, 18-7, in the Class 1A-District 11 final.
“We knew Saint Stephen’s was going to put up a fight,” Cardinal Mooney coach Derek Wagner said. “They have some very good players. They are a cross-town rival. It’s a fun game.”
It was the sixth district title in the past nine years for Cardinal Mooney, which is assured a home game in the opening round of the playoffs. Saint Stephen’s also qualified for the regional tournament under the new format.
“We knew everything,” Falcons coach Chris Collins said. “I’ve watched so much film on them. We know one another. All these kids play together on the travel teams. We thought we’d be a little closer, but we’re comin’.”
The Cougars (10-6) used two big spurts to break the game open. After the Falcons (11-3) scored to close the gap to 4-3 early in the second quarter, Cardinal Mooney tallied four times in a 3-minute, 17-second span. Senior attacker Patrik McGrath, who finished with seven goals and three assists, had two goals in the run.
The second big Cardinal Mooney outburst came in the third quarter after Saint Stephen’s pulled to within 8-5. The Cougars scored seven straight times in a 7:42 span with two goals by McGrath leading the way. Gio Zanoni also had two goals in the run.
“It was a game of runs,” Wagner said. “We knew we had to get up on them early and stay on them. I was glad to see the boys push hard. We had a really solid third quarter. The third quarter was our defining quarter. It’s good to see the boys come through.”
Seven different players scored goals for the Cougars — Zanoni finished with three goals and two assists, junior Sean Laureano had two goals and two assists, freshman Jamison McCusker and sophomore James Frankauski each had a goal and two assists.
“It’s a young group of kids,” Wagner said. “It was up and down all season. We knew it was going to be like that. I was glad to see these boys come through and get Step 1 of what we worked hard for this season.”
Saint Stephen’s takeaways
• Junior Matt Vara had three goals and two assists to lead the Falcons, who had difficulty stringing together things offensively. Junior Justin Millican added two goals.
• Saint Stephen’s was burned by Cardinal Mooney’s speed on offense. “We had a couple fast breakaways that hurt us,” Collins said. “We got down four and couldn’t put it back together.”
• Collins is impressed with the progress of the Saint Stephen’s program. The Falcons finished 11-3 last year, losing to Tampa Jesuit in the regional final. Thursday, Saint Stephen’s had an eight-game winning streak snapped with its previous loss March 7 at Seminole Osceola. The only other setback was to Fort Myers Canterbury. In all three losses, Saint Stephen’s failed to score in double digits. In all 11 wins, it scored 10 or more goals. “We’ve come a long way,” Collins said. “The guys played great. Things have changed. The pride of the team came together. We have a lot of young guys coming up. Just picking up ground balls. We’ve played with a controlled defense, a controlled offense and patience. On to the playoffs."
Cardinal Mooney takeaways
• The Cougars have a 9.24 strength of schedule, 11th best in the state and fifth best in 1A. “By design,” Wagner said. “I tell them you are going to have to beat good competition. There are not cupcake teams in the playoffs. You’re going to have to play good teams in the playoffs, you might as well play them in the regular season. I don’t care if our record is 9-6 or 10-6. I’m OK with the losses. There are good losses. We have one-goal wins and one-goal losses and a couple of blowout wins and blowout losses and that’s OK. That builds character, whether it’s this year or next season or the following season.”
• While the fast-break offense was clicking Thursday, Cardinal Mooney can play at a controlled pace. Wagner thinks that has been a key to the season. “When we move the ball quickly we can spread guys out. We’ve got a lot of talented kids who can move the ball,” the coach said. “But they can also move the ball in set offenses. We’re good either way. It depends on what our day is like.”
• The Cougars’ defense also put the clamps on Saint Stephen’s, limiting the Falcons to their lowest output of the season. Sophomore goalie Jacob Brown was solid in net, making 11 saves. “We’ll lean on our defense when we need to,” Wagner said.
• Wagner is interested to see the regional bracket when it is released under the new format of using the FHSAA points system, instead of just pitting district champs against district runners-up by area. “There are a lot of different things where we can set ourselves up pretty nicely,” Wagner said. “It doesn’t matter who we play, I’m confident in them.”
CLASS 2A-DISTRICT 12
Gulf Coast 8, Riverview 5
GIRLS LACROSSE
CLASS 2A-DISTRICT 12
Gulf Coast 17 Venice 7
CLASS 1A-DISTRICT 11
Out-of-Door 14, Saint Stephen's 13
BOYS TENNIS
Gulf Coast 5, Venice 1
SINGLES — Davide Procacci (GC) def. Charlie Siddons 8-1; Ivan Kisic (GC) def. Seth Neitlich 8-5; Bryan Cierniak (V) vs. Hudson Fry (GC) (abandoned); Christopher Wilson (GC) def. Pranav Mayor 8-2; Alex Mazza (GC) def. Aravind Rajeev 8-4.
DOUBLES — Siddons / Neitlich (V) def. Procacci / Wilson 8-4.
NEXT: Region semifinals on Tuesday — Venice boys at Newsome boys; Manatee boys at Gulf Coast boys; Lakewood Ranch girls at Venice girls; and Gulf Coast girls at Newsome girls.
BASEBALL
Sarasota 3, Lakewood Ranch 0
AT: Lakewood Ranch High.
TOP PLAYERS: S, Mario Trivella (1-3, RBI); LR, Austin Parcels (1-3, 2B).
PITCHING: Bernard Barnes (WP, 6IP, 6H, 1BB, 5K), Luke Jackson (S, IP, 2K).
RECORD: Sarasota (13-6).
NEXT: Sarasota at Manatee, 7 p.m., Wednesday.
Out-of-Door 10, Island Coast 0
TOP PLAYERS: ODA, Jack Hobson (2-3, 2HR, 5RBI), Aidan Marino (2-4, HR, 2B, 2RBI, 3 runs), Giovani Giuliani (4-4, 2B, 2 RBI run).
PITCHING: ODA, Josh Cone (W, 5IP, 1H, 7K).
Southeast 9, Booker 6
AT: Booker High, Sarasota.
TOP PLAYERS: SE, Ashton Hoy (1-2, 2RBI, run), Keyan Thorhe (1-3 2B, run, RBI), Micah Svagdis (1-4, 3B, run, RBI).
PITCHING: SE, Lucio Sanchez (5IP, 5H, 4R-0ER, 0BB, 5 Ks), Jacob Mruk (2IP, 2H, 2 runs, 3BB, 6 Ks).
Riverview 5, Venice 2
AT: Venice High.
TOP PLAYERS: R, Dylan Wilds (1-3, 2B, 2RBI), Clay Russin (1-3, 2B, run); V, Marek Houston (1-3, RBI), John Whitney (1-3, 2B, run).
PITCHING: R, Austin Harford (7IP, 4H, 2R, K); V, Possehl (3.2IP, H, 3K).
Dennis Maffezzoli is the deputy sports editor for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and chief reporter for Sarasota Herald-Tribune and HTpreps covering Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte counties. Support local journalism by subscribing.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: PREP ROUNDUP: Cardinal Mooney tames Saint Stephen's for district title
