St. Thomas boys’ lacrosse advances to state with win over Gulliver
Getting off to a fast start in an important game is always a good thing and the St. Thomas Aquinas boys’ lacrosse team managed to do just that on Friday afternoon.
The Raiders scored five goals in the first six minutes, led 7-0 after the first quarter and coasted from there, defeating host Gulliver Prep 10-3 in a regional final. The game was halted at the end of the third quarter and went into a 90-minute weather delay before the game was declared final.
St. Thomas advances to the state final four where the Raiders will take on either Tampa Jesuit or Orlando Bishop Moore in a state semifinal at Boca Raton High School on May 10 at 6 p.m.
“Even on the top end this, not actually finishing the game is not really the way you want things to end in a regional final with so much at stake,” said Aquinas head coach Terry Crowley, whose team will be looking for its third state title in four years next week. “But it is what it is, we’ll take the result and are happy to be moving on.”
Crowley can mainly thank two players for his team’s fast start. Faceoff man Jared Chenoy and Brock Gonzalez, the team’s leading scorer.
Thanks to Chenoy winning the first five faceoffs and Gonzalez scoring three of the team’s first four goals on those opening possessions, Gulliver found itself in a 5-0 hole before it ever even had possession and was able to cross midfield.
“Jared (Chenoy) was the key to the fast start,” said Crowley. “He was able to win the faceoffs and then get the ball behind them. They (Gulliver) were not cutting Brock off at that point so he was able to get to the cage one on one a few times and I think that gave us a little momentum early on.”
Even though Gulliver (12-6) made the defensive adjustment and neutralized Gonzalez at the start of the second quarter allowing the game to level off, the damage had been done as St. Thomas protected its seven-goal lead before the lightning detector went off with 13 seconds left in the third quarter.
“One of the main things our coaches preach to us every game is jump on our opponents as soon as we get off the bus,” said Gonzalez, who will take his lacrosse talents to Amherst University in Massachusetts. “When we get a big lead it’s pretty hard to come back on us and that’s what happened out there today.”
BASEBALL
▪ Riviera Prep 9, Doctors Charter 3: WP – DJ Flowers 4 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 K’s; Eric Fernandez 2-4, R; Luis Angarita 2-5 3B, Flowers 2-4, 2B; Marc Quarrie 2B, 2 RBI. RP: 12-8.
SOFTBALL
▪ District 15-9A final: Ferguson 11, Braddock 2
▪ District 8-2A final: Colonial Christian 15, Westwood Christian 0: WP – Ariana Long (6-2) 9Ks, 3B; Gwyn VanMunster, 2B, 3B, RBI; Morgan Wells 2B, 3 RBI; CC: 13-5
FLAG FOOTBALL (REGIONAL SEMIFINALS)
▪ Cooper City 19, Krop 6
▪ Miami High 45, Ferguson 0
▪ Western 27, Coral Springs 7
BOYS’ TENNIS
▪ Miami Country Day senior Louis Siegler defeated Boca Raton St. Andrews sophomore Jacob Lowen 6-3, 6-3 on Friday to win the Class 1A individual singles title.
This story was originally published May 4, 2019 at 1:00 AM.