Morning Coffee with FLN on Substack 05082024
Welcome to today’s post! Let’s preview the Girls Boys Final Four games today! Dobson and Hess Selected in PLL Draft!
Congrats to Fleming Island’s Eric Dobson and Ponte Vedra’s Dylan Hess for being drafted by the Carolina Chaos of PLL! Dobson at #12 and Hess at #28!
TWO of the Top 28 picked are Florida kids! The northern media is behind the times . . . #AcknowledgeFloridaLacrosse
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To repeat the Final Four information from the FLN website:
State Championships
When: Thursday-Saturday, May 9-11, 2024
Where: Paradise Coast Sports Complex (Naples)
Host: Collier County Public Schools
Admission: $10.00 per day general admission with advance purchase and $13.00 the day of via GoFan
NO onsite ticket sales taking place
Parking: $10.00 (all proceeds retained by the Host) | Parking Map
No tailgating and/or open alcohol containers will be allowed in the facility parking lot.
Facility: Spectator Information
Schedule: Boys | Girls
Championship Lodging: click here
Webcast: NFHS Network
Friday, May 10th – Noon – 1A Girls Semifinal
#2 Lake Highland (19-3) vs #3 St Stephen’s (18-1)
How did they get here?
Lake Highland defeated Bishop Moore in the District 7 final, then took All Saint’s Academy 24-2 in the first round, Cypress Creek 22-2 in the second round and Bishop Moore 15-3 in the regional final.
St Stephen’s defeated St Petersburg Catholic 16-4 in the District 10 final, then shut out Canterbury 16-0 in the first round, Gulf Coast 16-4 in the second round and a tight one-goal win over Community School in the regional final.
Final power rankings/SOS/Class rank, as of 4/19 (post-district final)
Lake Highland: 23.328 / 14.29 / #2
St Stephen’s: 17.398 / 5.36 / #5
Schedule notes:
The teams did not play in the regular season and the only common opponent was Cypress Creek, with each winning comfortably; SSE in the regular season on 3/13 16-5, while LHP won the playoff round by a bigger margin. Not much there to use.
Record Against Florida Final 8 Teams:
Lake Highland: 7-2, with wins over Bishop Moore 3x, Lake Mary, Episcopal School, Ponte Vedra and Vero Beach; the losses were to Hagerty and AH-Delray.
St Stephen’s: 1-1, with the win over Community School and the loss to Manatee
Team Stats (dependent on MaxPreps being accurate):
Goals Per Game: Lake Highland 16.1 St Stephen’s 16.1
Goals Against Per Game: Lake Highland 5.6 St Stephen’s 4.1
Top Goal Scorers Per Game (Minimum 20 Goals):
Lake Highland: Sr Sofia Mazariegos 2.0, Jr Ellie Greeno 1.9, Jr Savannah Love/Sr Alexandra Horn 1.5
St Stephen’s: Sr Sienna Casella 4.9, Jr Haley Rosa 4.8, Sr Ashling Marshall 4.1
Top Point Scorers Per Game (Minimum 30 Points):
Lake Highland: Mazariegos 2.7, Horn 2.3, Greeno 2.1
St Stephen’s: Casella 7.5, Marshall 7.0, Rosa 6.5
Thoughts:
One statistic that doesn’t come through here is that LHP has THIRTEEN double-digit scorers, and it is spread around, while St Stephen’s has one other beyond the 3 dominant players on their offense. That makes game planning much easier for LHP than SSE.
We mentioned yesterday that it’s expected to be hot on the field and that favors LHP’s depth.
What we can’t overlook is the huge difference in scheduling. I’ve made the point that the SSE program made a big mistake by not toughening the schedule this year to prepare specifically for this game after last year’s semifinal loss.
I hope to see a more competitive semifinal this year, but this is a stern test for a team that doesn’t go very deep and LHP will move on.