Lake Mary boys’ lacrosse wins 2A state title, finishes unbeaten
NAPLES, FLORIDA – Finally, after years of boys’ lacrosse playoff battles, the Lake Mary Rams climbed to the top of the proverbial mountain.
Getting goals from eight players, including hat tricks from Riley Turner and Caden Harshbarger, Lake Mary finished a spectacular unbeaten season (24-0) with a 13-5 victory against defending state champ Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas (17-4) on Saturday in the 2023 FHSAA Class 2A state championship game at Paradise Coast Sports Complex in Naples.
The 14th playoff appearance proved to be the charm for Lake Mary, which made it to the state title game for the first time after falling short in Final Four games in 2015, 2017 and 2021.
Lake Mary’s Caden Harshbarger (2) scored a hat trick to lead the Rams to a 13-5 victory against Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas in the Class 2A state championship on Saturday.
Photo courtesy of Caden Harshbarger
“It’s an amazing feeling,” said Harshbarger, a multi-sport star who also excels in football. “We worked so hard for this our whole careers and it’s amazing to see it pay off.
“We played as one and as a family,” Harshbarger said, “and there aren’t many people who can beat us when we play like that. We aren’t finished. Watch out for the two-peat.”
Lake Mary showed it meant business in the final game from the very start. After Carson Hinshaw scored to put the Rams up 1-0 in the first quarter, Luke Shale, Turner, Rocco Petrazzio and Harshbarger scored in the second quarter to give Lake Mary a 5-0 halftime lead.
St. Thomas Aquinas, which has won three state titles in its illustrious history, closed the gap to 5-2 at the 7:52 mark of the third quarter when Robert Windesheim and James Finch found the net.
But Lake Mary scored three of the next four goals in the quarter to surge ahead 8-3. Aaron Tichonoff, Shale and Turner all scored for the Rams.
Lake Mary then iced the game in the fourth quarter when Harshbarger scored twice, and Mitchell Campbell, Myles Guthrie and Turner scored once each.
It was the 20th time this season that Lake Mary scored 10 or more goals in a game. The Rams defeated Tampa Plant, 16-6, in the semifinals. Winter Park (18-4) lost to St. Thomas Aquinas, 15-6, in the other semifinal.
“We learned the value of taking it one game at a time in terms of our preparation and energy,” said Lake Mary coach Garrick Robinson. “It’s a cliché, but really defined us week to week.
“Kids were able to stay grounded despite the hype that built with each win,” Robinson said. “We assume anyone can beat us and prepared accordingly.”
Lake Mary is expected to be highly ranked again for 2024 as the Rams only lose two seniors to graduation.
