Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Moving past history
After winning the state title, Jupiter must ‘establish a new identity’ if it wants to extend last season’s success
Behind a first-year head coach and a team filled with seniors, the Jupiter Warriors managed to make history a season ago.
After being one the state’s top programs for the past six years, Jupiter capped off their 21-2 season with an 11-8 victory over Bishop Moore in the state title game to become the first Florida public school ever to win a boys lacrosse state championship.
“We had a terrific group of seniors last year who really set the pace for what we were trying to do,” said Jupiter head coach Nick O’Hara, who swapped roles with Danny Loftus in 2018 after being a longtime team assistant. “This season we’re going to need to establish a new identity with some of our players transitioning from backup roles to starting roles.”
Since becoming an official FHSAA sport back in 2008, no public school had ever been crowned state champion.
Playing in their first state title game last season, the Warriors’ seniors fueled the squad to bring them to the promised land.
Former attackman Denver Aranda led Jupiter over Bishop Moore with a gamehigh five goals while fellow graduating seniors Benno Janssen and Kenny Cronin added three and two goals, respectively.
Janssen, who was named the Sun Sentinel’s Palm Beach boys lacrosse player of the year, headlined the Warriors’ 17-player graduating class from a year ago by leading the team in scoring with 54 goals.
Chris Radice, a junior attackman, collected 36 goals last season for the Warriors and will be expected to help compensate for the loss of their top two scorers in Janssen and Aranda.
Midfielder Dylan Frankhouser was also an intricate piece of the Jupiter’s championship run with the current senior having been the team’s best faceoff specialist a year ago.
“Dylan [Frankhouser] has only gotten better. In a way, he was sort of our unspoken team MVP last season,” said O’Hara. “He’s really stepped up in the sense of being a leader, and we expect him to pick off where he was a year ago.”
Frankhouser finished the 2018 campaign with a 73 percent in faceoffs along with 10 goals and three assists. He also went 10 of 16 at the ‘x’ during the team’s 12-5 win over St. Andrews (17-3) in the state semifinal game.
St. Andrew’s, who played without North Carolina midfield commit Michael Lizzio, struggled to generate consistent offense throughout the semifinal matchup against Jupiter.
Lizzio was the Scots’ second-leading scorer (44 goals) in 2018 and was forced to miss the critical game after breaking his collarbone during the team’s regional final win over Belen Jesuit.
“We weren’t satisfied,” said St. Andrew’s coach Tony Seaman. “We have a good returning crew from a season ago. We have six returning guys who will add nice experience, and we expect our talented seniors to have a big impact.”
The Scots, who claimed 14 of 17 state championships from 1994-2010, are seeking their first title since 2012 when they beat Lake Highland Prep.
Senior Matt Adams is set to be a focal point of the St. Andrew’s offense as the attackman dished out a team-high 61 assists while recording 16 goals last season.
Lizzio will be primed to bounce back from his injury a year ago and is likely assume the top scoring role for the Scots with last season’s top scorer Carl Klepper (45 goals) having graduated.
En route to the state semifinals, St. Andrew’s defeated the previous reigning state champions in St. Thomas Aquinas as they pulled off a thrilling 8-7 overtime victory during the regional finals.
Heading into last season, the Raiders (14-7) were favored to repeat as champions and potentially bring home their third consecutive state championship. The defeat also snapped a four-year streak of state tournament appearances for St. Thomas Aquinas.
The Raiders had 14 seniors graduate last year and will need attackman Brock Gonzalez to carry over his success in 2018.
Gonzalez placed first in the team in scoring (51 goals) and finished second in assists to help generate offense for St. Thomas Aquinas a year ago.
Coach Terry Crowley is in his 10th season leading St. Thomas Aquinas and became the state’s all-time wins leader following their victory against Stoneman Douglas on April 6, 2018.
Crowley, who also coached at Coral Springs and Douglas, earned his
420th career victory to move past former St. Andrew’s coach Jeff Goldberg for the record.
For the girls at American Heritage-Delray, the Stallions will look build on their state title from last season after they remarkably captured their first championship in just the fourth year of the program’s existence at the school.
Junior Caitlyn Wurzburger, who was the nation’s top-rated sophomore a year ago and the Sun Sentinel’s Palm Beach County girls player of the year, recorded two goals and three assists against Lake Highland Prep to help the Stallions (21-1) win 10-7.
Wurzburger concluded the 2018 campaign with 105 goals and 114 assists.
Fellow junior and attacker Kylie Hazen contributed in the title contest as well by bringing in an additional three scores.
At the conclusion of her breakout season, Hazen ended her sophomore year with 46 goals and 36 assists.
“We lost four seniors from last year. Which on the defensive side of the ball we will have to rebuild in that aspect,” American HeritageDelray girls coach John McClain said. “Our starting attack line, however, might be the best in the country.”
The Stallions, who finished the 2018 season ranked in the top-five in the nationals polls, will need to replace former senior defenders Madeline Andrews and Maddie Pyle.
Goalie Chloe Provenzano
played in 725 minutes for American Heritage-Delray last season as she collected 92 saves on 186 shots on goal. The junior will be relied on to compensate for their defensive adjustment early in the year.
For the third consecutive year, American HeritageDelray and St. Thomas Aquinas faced off in the regional finals.
During last season’s girls regional final, American Heritage-Delray delivered revenge on the Raiders (18-2) by beating the 2018 state champions 16-4 after being eliminated by them a year ago in the same round.
Both teams first met in the regional final during the 2016 season where the Stallions pulled off an 11-9 overtime victory.
St. Thomas Aquinas’ Carly Steinlauf paced the team in goals (76), assists (46) and shots on goal (142) in 2018 and is expected to assume even a more significant role with former attacker Jada Preston having graduated.
Preston, who is currently in her first year at GardnerWebb University, tallied 69 goals and 41 assists for the Raiders during her senior campaign.
Former goalie Morgan Lusk, now a United States Coast Guard Academy freshman, was instrumental at the net for St. Thomas Aquinas last season as she collected 122 saves out of 209 shots on goal.
Freshman Skylar Troyan will take over the goalie position for the Raiders.