New Columbus coach hoping to lift Miami-Dade County lacrosse to state championship status

Nearly one decade ago, Steven Hernandez set the Columbus lacrosse record with 104 single-season goals.

But that’s where his playing days ended.

Hernandez opted to attend FIU, which does not have lacrosse. He graduated with a degree in hospitality management and became a retail manager at Dick’s Sporting Goods, but something was missing.

“It wasn’t my calling in life,” Hernandez said. “I had a hole in my life.”

That void has now been filled.

After coaching the past few years at Westminster Christian, Hernandez, 27, is back at his alma mater. He was hired as Columbus’ coach following the 2021 season, replacing Cody Morrissey, who is now his assistant.

Morrissey, 55, said the plan was to find someone younger to guide the next generation of LAX players.

“Stevie is a great communicator,” Morrissey said. “He can run around and show the kids what to do instead of just telling them.”

With Morrissey’s help, Hernandez started a youth program called: Brothers United Lacrosse Club, which has about 100 boys.

Belen coach Alan Bellando said he has by far the biggest lacrosse club in Miami, with 300 boys and girls competing from age six through high school.

Hernandez, Morrissey and Bellando all say that the relative lack of quality youth-lacrosse programs in Miami helps explain why no team from the county has ever won a state title in the sport.

Meanwhile, Broward and Palm Beach are strong in the sport. The reigning girls’ state champions are St. Thomas Aquinas in Class 2A and Delray American Heritage (1A). In the boys’ competition, the reigning champs are Jupiter (2A) and Boca Raton’s St. Andrew’s (1A).

“That’s a big reason why I came back to Columbus – I saw an opportunity to flip the table,” Hernandez said. “There’s no reason why Columbus can’t become a power. We have more boys (it’s an all-boys school). We have the facilities and the athletes.”

Hernandez said he hopes the Columbus players he coaches fall in love with lacrosse the way he did one decade ago.

“Lacrosse is the fastest game on land, similar to hockey on ice,” Hernandez said. “It incorporates the physicality of football, the endurance of soccer and the movement of basketball.”

Here’s a closer look at the top boys’ lacrosse teams in Miami-Dade/Broward:

CLASS 2A

▪ Aquinas (11-3) lost in the state quarterfinals, 8-7, to eventual champion Jupiter. Aquinas, which won state titles in 2016 and 2017, lost two other games last season, and those defeats were by a total of three goals.

The Raiders will be led this season by seniors Jacob Urbano, Nico Cash, Trace McDonald, Chase Garey and Michael Milanes.

▪ At Columbus, junior midfielder Jacob Angulo, who scored a team-high 33 goals last season, returns. Junior midfielder Joey Vilomar and sophomore goalie Andrew Pozo are also back for the Explorers, who went 9-8 last season, including 16-5 and 16-0 losses to Aquinas.

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CLASS 1A

▪ Belen finished 19-1, losing to eventual state champ St. Andrew’s in the regional finals. Belen senior Juan Miro Quesada is a ferocious defender. Sophomore Andrew Candela is a standout goalie. Juniors Chris Collings and Israel Salabria are other standouts.

▪ Pine Crest (12-2) is led by Jordan Faison, a junior midfielder who has committed to Notre Dame. His top teammates include senior Colby Geddis, who is a fourth-year starter; and junior Nigel Vital.

▪ Gulliver (14-5) is coming off a regional semifinal finish after winning its district. The Raiders return a solid defensive team that will look for much of its offense from seniors Ryan Noyes and Kyle Goldberg.

▪ American Heritage (6-3) graduated its star goalie and almost its entire offense. This season, Heritage will start an eighth-grader in goal and two freshmen on attack. The top player is junior Andrew Klis, who committed to Dartmouth.

▪ Ransom (8-8) is led by defender Levin Gans, who will play running back at Penn next season while also intending to walk-on for lacrosse. Leading goal-scorer Jack Rivas Vazquez also returns along with Andrew O’Brien, Nick Denaro and Santiago Lopez Duckenfield.

▪ Palmer Trinity (3-12) is looking for improvement led by senior goalie Brosnan Lopez and senior attack Matthew Bauer.

▪ North Broward Prep (3-9) is led by sophomore midfielder Jacob Tannenbaum, a starter since the eighth grade, who is also a standout for the Eagles in football.

This story was originally published February 3, 2022 at 1:30 PM.