St. Thomas Aquinas’ Terry Crowley, Kevin Gilligan are Broward Lacrosse Coaches of Year

St. Thomas Aquinas is the gold standard for lacrosse in Broward County -- both boys’ lacrosse and girls’ lacrosse -- and the Raiders again had the two best teams across Broward and Miami-Dade counties this year.

It’s why their two coaches are again the Miami Herald’s Broward County Lacrosse Coaches of the Year for 2023.

Terry Crowley is the Broward County Boys’ Lacrosse Coach of the Year for the third straight year after guiding St. Thomas Aquinas to a second straight appearance in the Class 2A championship — the Raiders won in 2022 — and a sixth trip to the title game in eight seasons. Kevin Gilligan is the Broward County Girls’ Lacrosse Coach of the Year for the second time in three years after bringing St. Thomas Aquinas back to the 2A title game for the second time in three seasons.

Neither of their teams lost to an opponent from Miami-Dade or Broward counties, and they combined for just one loss to a South Florida foe.

Crowley’s Raiders did it with two underclassmen as the leaders of their offense, too. Freshman James Finch — the Miami Herald’s Broward County Boys’ Lacrosse Coach of the Year — and sophomore Benjamin Kupstas combined for more than 100 goals as St. Thomas Aquinas’ two leading scorers.

Gilligan’s Raiders, who won their first state title in 2021, won with balance and by testing themselves against one of the toughest schedules in the state. St. Thomas Aquinas actually had a losing record at the start of the postseason — it played three out-of-state teams, including two from Long Island in New York — and the won District 15-2A and Region 4-2A to get all the way to the 2A title game, where the Raiders lost by just one goal.

They were both close calls and heart-breaking losses, but continued excellent runs by two fantastic programs.

This story was originally published May 24, 2023 at 7:20 AM.