2023 Season Results & Post Season Awards

by Doug Bailey

The 2023 Saint Edward's Lacrosse Season is in the books.

-More than a few thank yous and I'm sure I'll miss someone, but here's who I would like to thank right off the bat:

*Angela Waldrop and Ryan Russell for their Team Mom efforts! I have no idea what we'd do without their leadership in this spot!

*Coach Wolcott for his tremendous contributions to our efforts.

*Coach Barnett, Coach O'Brien, and Coach Greenfield for their truly inspired efforts to make impactful time contributions to our team.

*Coach Greenfield, Coach Walsh and Coach Fletcher for helping our MS program prosper in the process and bear fruit this Spring.

*Bill Keating for his amazing work with reviewing every game film and getting every stat properly assigned!

*Dan Steinle and Alexis Colgan for the scorebook work you completed for us! I'm very grateful for those efforts!

*Seamus Moylan for thinking more of his teammates than maybe his teammates ever think of themselves or each other. Truly the person someday who will be running a ship somewhere very successfully!

*Turner and Charlie Barnett, thanks for your contributions as our Lacrosse Ambassadors!

*Our senior parents, one last nod of gratitude for you and your sons who have contributed to the four years of Saint Edward's Lacrosse success.

*Our administration, top to bottom support of the following efforts:

-Helped with the hiring and support of Coach Hanford in his inaugural year learning all about us!

-Helped us with scheduling South County as needed for our entire program for MS & HS.

-Our overnight field trip to Pinecrest and Gulliver Prep, which by all means was a complete success not just in wins, but in our team building.

-Scheduling and helping make Charter Bus trips to distant opponents.

-General support of our efforts to maintain team on and off the field individual and team discipline.

-The support of the Alumni Lacrosse Game!

-That great send-off to LHP! You are the best!!!!

We had a remarkable season with many defining moments. So what were some of those remarkable and defining moments this season?

-Our 2023 schedule was the toughest in Saint Edward's history of my coaching seasons here. It wasn't that the others were not very challenging, it's just that all the cupcakes were gone and replaced by some more champions from the season before in their own right.

-The addition of Coach Jamie Hanford to our staff was more than remarkable. His experience at the high school, college, and professional levels brought in new life and new challenges that would give our student-athletes going on to college a better look at where they needed to go with their game(s), and our younger players a standard in order to excel at a faster rate.

-Our preseason challenges haven't changed. The FHSAA of overlapping Basketball and Soccer seasons with Spring sports still devastates our first three weeks of the preseason when you compound that same problem with the reason that exists in the first place, Spring Football. Literally, Spring Lacrosse is firmly squeezed into basically late February, March and the first week in April to get its work done. That usually doesn't cause a problem so much for the bigger schools in Class 1A or 2A, but for us, where many of our lacrosse athletes play both basketball and soccer, it impacts our development.

-For some of those same reasons, another obstacle includes scheduling practice times and a full field together at the same time in the season when there is both Winter and Spring Sports demand for field space. This 2023 team's practice schedule was a lesson in improvising and overcoming, on a daily basis!

-And then last but not least, the school schedules a 3 day-2 night field trip for every class in upper school coming off a preseason of total chaos in numbers for practice.

So with those challenges let me present how we did overall after our Preseason Jamboree with Oxbridge Academy and Holy Trinity, which according to MaxPreps rates as the #1 toughest schedule in Florida High School Lacrosse this year at an 18.5 Strength rating!

Florida 1A & 2A MaxPreps Final Rankings:

Florida Class 1A Final Rankings:

So now let's identify some things we accomplished and maybe some things we didn't accomplish:

-Our early loss to a strong Jupiter team provided the context we needed to right the ship. It would be fair to point out that the evening before, we got all the basketball players back.

-Our game with Ponte Vedra a week later provided us with some needed confidence that we could play with the best teams in Florida as we began to work on some nuances to both our offense and defense. Frankly, it was the first week of practice for this whole team being together!

-The following games with Vero Beach, Pinecrest, and Gulliver Prep were designed to help us get ready for Benjamin. Well, apparently that theory of coaching didn't work and we trailed Benjamin in the first quarter like 7-1 and fought back with a better second-half performance to submit to a 13-8 drubbing and back to the drawing board for the coaches.

-Our following game was against Saint Andrew's (2021, 2022 & now 2023 State Class 1A Champions). We made a decision to proceed with the offensive efforts we were making but totally scrapped the idea of morphing from a man-to-man defense and in and out of a zone defense to confuse the opponent's offense. As we were learning, it was only confusing our defense, and we simply could not play good man-to-man defense. Now if you know anything about defense, in order to play a good zone you need to learn to play good man-to-man defense. But for Saint Andrew's, we just decided to "forget about it!" And well it worked! Keegan Nyman was keeping us strong in the FO area, and Dylan Redmon really grew up in the LSM position of the wing at FO. Kieran Colgan was stonewalling the goal, and our 51 defense was slowing down Saint Andrew's offense, and more importantly, our offense was making Saint Andrew's defense and coaching staff perplexed. We finally beat the TEAM in Florida, 12-10 in a great showdown!

-After watching the film of that incredible victory over Saint Andrew's, well we still had a lot of work to do, especially with our defense since part of the reason that we were confusing them was we were flying around hustling trying to make defensive plays, but it wasn't like it was scripted. So we were coming off of Spring Break and got 2 nice wins over Jensen and Montverde that first week back, but there again were our next challenges looming and although our offense was steamrolling, our defense was still searching for leadership, and some players who could be counted on consistently.

-So this week we have both Saint Aquinas and IMG Academy coming to town, and Aquinas was defending 2A State Champions, and well IMG we just haven't ever beaten them either! Interestingly enough, our offense was not our best asset in either of the games, but a miracle was starting to happen; our defense was starting to play tough on the ball and our slides were coming hard and furiously and even our second slides were there! Our defense was now frustrating both these very good offenses, but more so, they were impacting the shots our opponents could take... they were literally helping our goalie from getting hands-free shots on our goal. So our victories over Saint Aquinas and IMG both by scores of 8-7 provided a sense of confidence that our defense was starting to become a consistent and stable force. Our offense although stalling a bit, was still capable just not getting the shots they wanted.

-Just when you thought the momentum is once again building in our favor, the juggernaut of Lake Highland Prep rolls into town with only one thing on their mind, REVENGE. In 2021 we defeated LHP at LHP to win the regional finals in spectacular fashion, and Lord Jesus, there wasn't one kid on LHP who had to be reminded of devastating that loss was. They came to Vero Beach with one thing in mind, and that was to break us, and break us they did. The final score was 15-8, and even though it was a 2-goal game into the third quarter, we succumbed to their onslaught. Defensively, we did not recover and we were unable to stop the ball.

-Senior Night the next night against Holy Trinity was a celebration of those senior players who made it through the grind, or should have said it better, enjoyed the challenges of the grind! Seniors Rcikly Savage, Eli Barin, Ford Norris, Sam Thomas and Dylan Redmon were celebrated for their dedication and determination, and our team put the LHP loss to bed defeating a good Holy Trinity team 18-7. We did have to make some adjustments defensively during this game because at one point during this game, we could not stop any of their transitioning or their best player's influence on breaking our defense down. Our defense was a cause of concern again, and although we had one trick to slow HT down, if we hit a team that had more than one very good player it was going to be a problem unless we could get it turned around.

-Our District Playoffs followed the next week, and Jensen Beach played us tough in an 8-5 loss at Saint Edward's in the semi-finals. We traveled to Benjamin for our District Final, and our lack of progress on-ball and off-ball on the defensive end really hurt us. Even some simple adjustments we had made and working to counter their 2 man game went unheeded. We just didn't do what we worked on in practice and talked about in film sessions. Keegan was dominating the Face-Off X all game, and literally, our offense was doing fine after a slow first quarter. Our problem came at the defensive side of the ball, we just couldn't stop them and more so, we couldn't alter their shots or shot selection. We lost 12-9 in the District Final.

-Our play in the District Finals didn't kill our spirit, because we were on course to make amends in the Regional Playoffs. We got off to a good start against Bishop Moore in the quarter-finals. Our offense found its confidence right off to bat, our face-off game was intact, and our defense seemed to have bounced back to a form where we were coordinated!

-Now we are headed to LHP for the Regional semi-final. A rematch, frankly just what the doctor ordered! Right?! Well maybe. I'll be frank, I thought we were ready for the rematch. And frankly, if we could eliminate all the mistakes of the first quarter, I'm now positive we would have won going away. The Bad News is we didn't come out of the gate winning groundballs, or being mentally or physically capable of playing good lacrosse defense. The Good News is, we did a much better job on ground balls and playing physically/mentally as a defense about 3 minutes into the second quarter which gave our offense the possessions and momentum to get us a lead by near the end of the 3rd quarter 11-10. A turnover on our offensive end gave LHP just enough time to tie the game at 11-11 to start the fourth quarter. During the fourth quarter, we still were in control of the game's fundamental play, and it was good back-and-forth lacrosse game for both teams. We were getting stops on defense and we were getting chances on offense to put the ball in the goal. But it was LHP who scored once and held on to the victory. I think we all left that field knowing that we gave that game away in the first quarter, and I think we all left that field on that bus ride knowing that we fought back hard enough to have had the chance to win that game handily. We just didn't get that job done, and so we move on with our perceptions and reflections on a season that really had some great moments and rewards against Florida's toughest high school schedule and some well-earned victories over opponents we have never beaten, yet bittersweet knowing we did not accomplish a District or Regional Championship.

Let me put the season in the best perspective I can give you as a measure of what we accomplished and didn't accomplish:

-No one team in Florida lacrosse history has beaten Saint Andrew's and Saint Aquinas in the same season. No one, until this year. It was the 2023 Saint Edward's Lacrosse team who accomplished that feat!

-Saint Andrew's won the 2023 1A Championship. Saint Aquinas lost in their 2023 2A State Championship Final.

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Our 2023 Player stats are online are very accurate as Coach Bill Keating keeps on giving to our program! Can't thank Bill enough for the work he continues with Saint Edward's Lacrosse!

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MAXPREP STARS of each Game:

2023 US Lacrosse- Florida South Chapter Awards

All-America: Ford Norris

All Florida South Class 1A Region:

Midfield: Ricky Savage, Reed Sternberg, Eli Barin

Attack: Ford Norris

FO: Keegan Nyman

Florida STate Lacrosse Coaches All-State Awards:

1st Team All-State:

Ford Norris (A), Ricky Savage (M), Reed Sternberg (M)

2nd TEAM ALL-STATE:

Eli Barin (M), Keegan Nyman (FOGO)

2023 Treasure Coast (TCPalm Awards):

The article is here: HTTPS://WWW.TCPALM.COM/STORY/SPORTS/2023/06/14/MEET-TCPALMS-2022-23-BOYS-LACROSSE-ALL-AREA-TEAM/70277074007/

Player of the Year: Ford Norris

1st Team MIDFIELD: RICKY SAVAGE, REED STERNBERG, ELI BARIN

1st Team ATTACK: FORD NORRIS, Connor O'Brien

1st Team Face OFF: KEEGAN NYMAN

1ST TEAM Defense: None

1ST TEAM Goalie: Kieran Colgan

HONORABLE MENTION: Will Russell (A), Luke Hermann (M,A), Ethan Ball (D), Dylan Redmon (LSM)

This year's 2022-23 Boys Lacrosse All-Area team is loaded with names from the two Indian River County teams but there were also plenty of other players around the area that shined from seniors finishing their careers to hungry underclassmen who will be eager for the next season to come back around in 2024.

Player of the Year

Ford Norris, St. Edward's

Year: Senior

Highlights: Norris, a Manhattan signee, was just as happy to set teammates up for success as he was scoring highlight-reel goals as he had a team-high 44 assists and scored 36 goals. On the season, Norris had eight games where he had multiple goals and assists that included a four-goal, four-assist night in Pirates' win over Saint Andrews on March 10

First Team

Ricky Savage, St. Edward's

Year: Senior

Highlights: Savage, a Loyola signee, was a lethal goal scorer his entire career and deposited 41 goals in his final season to go along with 12 assists. Savage had 11 multi-goal games and was a key figure in the Pirate midfield helping out the defense.

Reed Sternberg, St. Edward's

Year: Junior

Highlights: Sternberg made a big leap forward in production from his sophomore year as he tied for the team lead in goals with 41 for the Pirates and added 21 assists. Sternberg thrived late in the season scoring 28 goals in his final 10 games

Connor O'Brien, St. Edward's

Year: Freshman

Highlights: O'Brien emerged as a key piece to the Pirates after limited playing time last season as he was fourth on the team in goals with 31 and was third on the team with 20 assists.

Kieran Colgan, St. Edward's

Year: Junior

Highlights: Colgan as the main man in goal for the Pirates had a steady season posting a .508 save percentage and had strong showings in wins against Saint Andrew's, St. Thomas Aquinas and IMG Academy.

Eli Barin, St. Edward's

Year: Senior

Highlights: In the midfield, Barin's value from defense to offense was immense to the Pirates' success as he totaled 24 goals and 18 assists in his final high school season.

Keegan Nyman, St. Edward's

Year: Sophomore

Highlights: Nyman was excellent in the face-off circle this season, winning 59.8 percent of draws and led the Pirates with 94 ground balls.

Honorable Mention

Will Russell, St. Edward's junior

Dylan Redmon, St. Edward's senior

Luke Hermann, St. Edward's junior

Ethan Ball, St. Edward's sophomore