High school lacrosse notebook
Georgia lacrosse was well represented during the weekend at the Florida-Georgia Showdown in Lake Mary, Fla. A delegation of Northview, Centennial, Lambert and Milton’s boys teams combined to go 7-1 in a series of matchups with Floridian high schools.
Lambert’s 2-0 mark might be the most impressive. The Longhorns, who are ranked No. 3 in Class AAAAAA, knocked off Lake Mary, 10-6, and Barron Collier, 7-2. Both teams are ranked among Florida’s top 10 by LaxPower.com.
No. 2 Centennial (11-1) also continued its impressive recent run with two lopsided victories. The Knights, who have won seven straight, defeated Tampa-Plant and Gulf Coast by a combined total of 45-9, scoring 20-plus goals for the sixth and seventh times this season.
Milton, the only unranked team from Georgia at the event, took the state’s only loss, earning a 1-1 mark overall.
A-AAAAA battle brewing: Westminster and Lovett, the top-ranked teams in Class A-AAAAA, reaffirmed their lofty status regardless of classification last week, winning against top-10 AAAAAA teams. On Friday, they face off in one of the most anticipated games of the regular season.
No. 1 Westminster scraped past Roswell (No. 4, AAAAAA), 9-8, Thursday after No. 2 Lovett knocked off No. 7 AAAAAA Lassiter, 14-4, earlier in the week.
Neither game should be considered upsets. Westminster and Lovett have been fixtures near the top of Class A-AAAAA in recent years. The Wildcats have four state championships, the most recent coming in 2013, and Lovett was the state runner-up last year.
More recently, Westminster (12-1) is ranked No. 7 in the South by LaxMagazine.com, the only loss coming against Boys Latin (Md.), the No. 5 team in the country. Meanwhile, the Lions (9-3) own a victory against top-ranked AAAAAA team Johns Creek. Their only loss to a Georgia team came by one goal against Centennial (No. 2, AAAAAA).
Marist winning streak: With Wednesday's 8-4 victory against No. 9 St. Pius, No. 10 Marist has won six consecutive games since dropping back-to-back overtime heart-breakers in mid-March.
Marist will play Lovett on April 14 and if the War Eagles are to pull the upset, expect it to be because of their defense. They’ve given up more than six goals only once and have yet to yield double digits to any opponent.
