St. Thomas Aquinas’ boys’ lacrosse falls short in bid to repeat as state champions

It’s often said that trying to repeat as state champions is harder than winning the first.

That was the case for the St. Thomas Aquinas boys’ lacrosse team Saturday afternoon, facing a Lake Mary squad that entered the day 23-0 one game away from perfection.

The Rams (24-0) denied the Raiders (17-4) of winning back-to-back state titles, downing the defending champions in a decisive 13-5 win Saturday afternoon at the Paradise Coast Sports Complex.

Lake Mary goalie Mason Masterson had arguably his strongest game in net, denying the Raiders four times in one-on-one situations in the first half, while also not allowing a goal when Lake Mary went down a man on two separate occasions. St. Thomas had been shut out in a half just one other time this season, against Boys Latin (Md.).

“We were 0-for-4 on one-on-ones with the goalie in the first half,” St. Thomas coach Terry Crowley said. “That’s big. We cannot go 0-for-4. But they’re young, they fought back, I’m happy. I knew they were going to be good. I think everybody knew that. I think people were a little surprised we were here. That was just fine with us. The stage was big. We can’t go down 5-0.”

After scoring two goals in the first 15:23 of game action, Lake Mary (24-0) scored twice 14 seconds apart in the closing stages of the second quarter to double the lead in an instant. North Carolina commit Caden Harshbarger then beat the buzzer three minutes later, scoring with two seconds remaining to go into halftime with a convincing 5-0 lead.

Bobby Windesheim would finally snap the scoring drought just 10 seconds into the third quarter, taking a quick shot after Chris Testa won the faceoff. The Raiders would get a goal from James Finch at the 7:52 mark in the third, but that would be the closest St. Thomas would get the rest of the afternoon.

“Our players did the job today,” Lake Mary coach Gary Robinson said. “They really came out, and the defense showed who they are. St. Thomas being St. Thomas, they came out in the third quarter and reminded us of who they are and where they’ve been. They answered that challenge, and that was the biggest part in the third quarter when we came back and got two. That evened things out.

“… They battled like heck to the end, which was a little stressful, but our kids found a way to pull away in the fourth quarter.”

Benjamin Kupstas ended the game with a team-high two goals, while Finch, Windesheim, and Testa all finished with one. The Raiders hadn’t been held to under five goals by an in-state opponent since Benjamin on March 19, 2021.

With a sizeable group returning, Crowley and the Raiders expect to be back here next season.

“We got better each week,” Crowley said. “We started off with a rough loss to Lake Highland Prep, and we got better and better and better as the year went on. We played Massapequa (N.Y.), we beat St. Andrew’s, beat Jupiter twice. They got better. That’s all you can ask from a team. Today, it wasn’t our day.

“… Next year, we’ll be here, and they’ll be a year older and a year seasoned. I told them, don’t walk away with this feeling again. The other feeling is much, much better. Tradition doesn’t graduate, we have a tradition here. You’ve got to uphold it.”