Winter Park, Lake Highland host title games
Winter Park boys and Lake Highland Prep girls lacrosse teams host Florida High School Athletic Association regional championship games this weekend.
The Wildcats face Windermere High in an all-Orange County Class 2A final on Saturday at Showalter Field.
Lake Mary travels to Ponte Vedra and Montverde Academy is at Benjamin High in Palm Beach Gardens in other boys games involving area teams.
Lake Highland plays Merritt Island Edgewood in a 1A girls final on Friday. Hagerty travels to Vero Beach in 2A.
Admission to regional tournament games is $7. Region champions advance to FHSAA state final four tournaments May 5-7 at Paradise Coast Sports Complex in Naples.
Start time for region final games is 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted.
FRIDAY
Girls regional finals
Class 2A Region 2
No. 2 Hagerty (16-6) at No. 1 Vero Beach (15-3) Buzz: Senior Hannah Thomas (68 goals) and sophomore Ellie Wilkins (54 goals) are the top goal-scorers for Hagerty. The Huskies defeated Vero Beach 7-6 on Feb. 23. The Indians won 16-5 in 2021. Hagerty ranks No. 11 overall and No. 5 in FHSAA Class 2A power ratings. Vero Beach, which averages 13 points per game, is No. 3 overall and No. 1 in 2A.
Class 1A Region 2
No. 6 Merritt Island Edgewood (13-4) at No. 1 Lake Highland Prep (15-2) Buzz: Lake Highland won 26-2 when the teams faced off in last year’s regional championship round. The Highlanders, state runners-up in 2021, rank No. 2 in the state behind 1A Region 4 finalist Delray Beach American Heritage. Senior Lauren Pittman has 36 goals and 19 assists for Lake Highland. Edgewood ranks No. 27 in 1A. Other girls finals
2A Region 1: No. 3 Ponte Vedra (15-5) at No. 1 St. Johns Bartram Trail (19-3)
2A Region 3: No. 2 Lithia Newsome (15-4) at No. 1 Lutz Steinbrenner (20-1)
2A Region 4: No. 2 Boca Raton (19-2) at No. 1 Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas (13-3)
1A Region 1: No. 2 St. Augustine (16-4) at No. 1 Jacksonville Episcopal (18-3)
1A Region 3: No. 5 Bradenton St. Stephen’s (14-2) at No. 2 Naples (17-2)
1A Region 4: No. 2 Fort Lauderdale Pine Crest (18-3) at No. 1 Delray Beach American Heritage (16-2), 4
SATURDAY
Boys region finals
Class 2A Region 1
No. 2 Lake Mary (19-2) at No. 1 Ponte Vedra (17-3) Buzz: First meeting since
Ponte Vedra won 12-5 in a 2019 region semifinal. The Sharks rank No. 4 overall and No. 2 in FHSAA Class 2A power rankings. Junior Maddox Johnson has 56 goals and 12 assists. Lake Mary, ranked No. 5 overall and No. 3 in 2A, is led by senior Joshua Donovan (48 goals, 22 assists) and Caden Harshbarger (44 goals, 35 assists). Class 2A Region 2
No. 2 Windermere High (18-2) at No. 1 Winter Park (18-2)
Buzz: Winter Park, ranked No. 4 in 2A, won both meetings in 2021 and prevailed 14-0 when the teams played March 1. Four players have scored more than 30 goals for the state runner-up Wildcats, including senior Lawton Dowdell (55 goals). Ryan Langhoff has 59 goals and 17 assists and Kade Fixler has 39 goals and 31 assists for Windermere.
Class 1A Region 2
No. 6 Montverde Academy (13-6) at No. 1 Palm Beach Gardens Benjamin (16-3) Buzz: Benjamin ranks No. 2 in the state behind 1A Region 4 finalist Boca Raton St. Andrew’s. Senior Jack Regnery has 44 goals and 17 assists for the Bucs. Montverde ranks No. 9 in 1A. Senior Aaron Williams has a teamhigh 36 goals for the Eagles. Junior Seth Isenhour has 33 goals and 25 assists and Spencer Odier has 31 goals and 18 assists.
Other boys finals
2A Region 3: No. 3 Lithia Newsome (19-2) at No. 1 Tampa Plant (17-2)
2A Region 4: No. 2 Jupiter (13-8) at No. 1 Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas (14-3)
1A Region 1: No. 2 Gainesville Oak Hall (14-5) at No. 1 Jacksonville Bolles (19-2)
1A Region 3: No. 2 Naples Community School (16-4) at No. 1 Tampa Jesuit (15-2)
1A Region 4: No. 2 West Palm Beach Oxbridge (18-4) at No. 1 Boca Raton St. Andrew’s (17-3), 7:30