Westminster Christian’s Handel, Palmetto’s Weinberg are Dade Lacrosse Players of Year

Matt Handel and Emma Weinberg helped their schools make history this year with district titles, and now they’re the Miami Herald’s Miami-Dade County Lacrosse Players of the Year.

A year after helping Westminster Christian make the Florida High School Athletic Association tournament, Handel exploded for 72 goals as a senior and helped the Warriors win their first district title to solidify his place as the Miami-Dade County Boys’ Lacrosse Player of the Year.

At Palmetto, Weinberg did a similar thing, helping the Panthers make region playoffs for the first time since 2013 last year and then follow it up with a first district title this year to become the Miami-Dade County Girls’ Lacrosse Player of the Year for the second straight season.

Handel also had 19 assists and 44 ground balls to go along with his 72 goals. Weinberg, a junior, had 41 goals, three assists and 62 ground balls.

Westminster Christian won the District 16-1A championship and Palmetto won the District 16-2A title.

“I’m very excited and very happy to be part of that,” Handel said. “I was glad I was able to be there to make history.”

Said Weinberg: “We had one goal, to win districts. ... We set out at the beginning of the year to accomplish it.”

Handel, a high-powered attack, led the county by more than 10 goals and even had a 10-goal performance in February, plus a nine-goal game in March and an eight-goal outing last month.

After scoring 59 goals as a junior to earn first-team All-Dade honors from the Herald, Handel wanted to wrap up his time in Miami as the Miami-Dade Boys’ Lacrosse Player of the Year.

“I obviously had it in the back of my head,” he said.

Weinberg will be back for one more season to try to be the Miami-Dade Girls’ Lacrosse Player of the Year for the third straight time, and her case hinges as much on her all-around ability as it does on her prolific numbers.

The midfielder also finished second on her team in ground balls and draw controls.

“I honestly try my hardest to help my team in any way as I possibly can,” she said. “Playing as a team is the most important.”

This story was originally published May 25, 2023 at 7:10 AM.