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And then there were five. Both Gulf Breeze and Pensacola Catholic lacrosse teams and the Navarre girls team have advanced to their respective district championships and a chance to automatically qualify for the state playoffs.
Read more below for each team's to their respective district title games.
No. 3 Gulf Breeze 19, No. 2 Navarre 4 (Saturday)
Landon Pickrell isn't shying away from the obvious.
Gulf Breeze is using its district seed as fuel for the chase for a third straight district title. After losing three straight games to end the regular season, the Dolphins were seeded behind Niceville and Navarre despite beating both teams.
Just like in the regular season, Gulf Breeze (9-7) cruised past the Raiders (14-4) to set up a clash at No. 1 Niceville in the District 1-2A final on April 15 at 6 p.m. The Dolphins beat the Eagles 11-9 on Feb. 24.
"We definitely got a chip on our shoulder," Pickrell said. "Seeded (No.) 3 above the two teams that we've already beat, we gotta play with that chip on our shoulder."
Pickrell finished with a team-high seven points, scoring five goals and dishing out two assists. Junior JT Parvin matched Pickrell's five goals and added an assist. Wesley Morrill finished with three goals and two assists.
Freshman Alex Sassi also had a hat trick and his classmate Alex Werrell won 18-of-22 faceoffs. Ethan Rudick was a menace on defense, picking up two groundballs, causing six turnovers and scoring a goal in the second half.
Gulf Breeze pulled away early, scoring two goals late in the first quarter to take a 5-2 lead and then the first six goals of the second quarter.
Navarre battled through much of the first period, getting a big juice goal when senior captain Elijah Busby scored while falling down to cut the Dolphins lead to 3-2 with 2:22 left in the frame. Parvin finished a first quarter hat trick with 50 seconds left in the opening period, and Ben Cozart followed that with a goal in transition 16 seconds later.
Werrell went to work at the faceoff dot in the second quarter and Navarre had no answer for Gulf Breeze playing make-it, take-it. The Raiders focused on locking down Cozart, but that only opened up more opportunities for sharpshooters like Pickrell, crease finishers like Parvin, and others.
"It was nice to have a good second quarter in this game," Dolphins head coach Erik Liberatore said. "That's been a letdown for us in the past and you can see the boys persevere through that."
After ending the regular season on a losing streak, Liberatore has seen his team come together in the first two games of the district tournament. Gulf Breeze has outscored its two district tournament games by a combined score of 38-4 and have the chance to prove what they think they already know on Wednesday.
"If we play us, nobody can stand with us in our district," Liberatore said.
While Gulf Breeze has a chance to automatically qualify for the state playoffs, Navarre will have to wait for the playoff selection show. The Raiders entered the district tournament as the No. 8 seed in Region 1-1A and the last team in the field. But Gulf Breeze was the first team out and just two spots behind Navarre in the overall state rankings entering the district tournament.
No matter how this seasons ends, the Raiders have already set the program record for most wins in a season in Christopher McCall's first season as head coach.
"Goals come in bunches in lacrosse, right?" McCall said. "One leads to two to three and then your team can struggle to swing momentum the other way. We have a really young team,, we started five freshmen tonight and so getting those guys just the seasoning of it, the feeling of it. You just try to work as hard as you can swing it to come back in your direction."
No. 2 Pensacola Catholic 14, No. 3 Booker T. Washington 0 (Friday)
The Crusaders recorded their third shutout this season and advanced to the district championship.
Jax Lagergren scored a team-high six goals and dished out two assists. Caden Jasso scored a goal and recorded a team-high seven assists. Jacon Smith-Gutenmann added four goals and an assist and picked up five groundballs. Dade Cutter led the Crusaders defense, picking up two groundballs and causing two turnovers.
Catholic previously beat the Wildcats 14-2 on March 4.
Pensacola Catholic (12-7) will play at No. 1 South Walton in District 1-1A championship on April 14 at 7 p.m. The Seahawks beat the Crusaders 12-4 on Feb. 17.
Booker T. Washington (10-5) is eliminated and its season is over. The Wildcats recorded double-digit wins in a season for the first time since 2017, but needed to win the district tournament to qualify for the state playoffs.
No. 1 Gulf Breeze 20, No. 4 Tate 3 (Friday)
The Dolphins moved one step closer to a fourth straight district title.
Ann Pair scored a team-high five goals and added four groundballs and three draw controls. Kaleyah Bussing scored four goals and added five groundballs and seven draw controls. Roz Palmer finished with a hat trick and four draw controls.
Gulf Breeze led 8-0 at the end of the first quarter and forced a running clock on a Bussing goal with 7:35 left in the third quarter. The Dolphins previously beat Tate 23-0 on Feb. 25 and 20-2 on March 25.
Gulf Breeze (13-3) will host No. 2 Navarre in the District 1-2A championship on April 14 at 6 p.m. The Dolphins beat the Raiders 20-10 on March 9.
No. 2 Navarre 12, No. 3 Niceville 7
The Raiders led 4-2 at halftime before pulling away from the Eagles in the second half. Navarre outscored Niceville 4-1 in the third quarter before holding steady in the final frame.
The Raiders previously beat the Eagles 17-10 on Feb. 18 and 15-7 on March 11.
Navarre (15-3) will play at No. 1 Gulf Breeze in the District 1-2A championship on April 14 at 6 p.m.
No. 2 Pensacola Catholic 17, No. 3 West Florida 3 (Friday)
The Crusaders rolled past the Jaguars and into the district championship.
Pensacola Catholic previously beat West Florida 18-0 on Feb. 12
Pensacola Catholic (11-7) will play at No. 1 South Walton in District 1-1A championship on April 15 at 6 p.m..
West Florida (13-6) is eliminated from the district tournament and now awaits its playoff fate. The Jaguars were the first team out of the Region 1-1A playoffs at the start of the district tournament. If they move into the field, it would be the program's first ever state playoff appearance.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Lacrosse district championships set for Pensacola area teams
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Read more below for each team's to their respective district title games.
Boys lacrosse
District 1-2A semifinals
No. 3 Gulf Breeze 19, No. 2 Navarre 4 (Saturday)
Landon Pickrell isn't shying away from the obvious.
Gulf Breeze is using its district seed as fuel for the chase for a third straight district title. After losing three straight games to end the regular season, the Dolphins were seeded behind Niceville and Navarre despite beating both teams.
Just like in the regular season, Gulf Breeze (9-7) cruised past the Raiders (14-4) to set up a clash at No. 1 Niceville in the District 1-2A final on April 15 at 6 p.m. The Dolphins beat the Eagles 11-9 on Feb. 24.
"We definitely got a chip on our shoulder," Pickrell said. "Seeded (No.) 3 above the two teams that we've already beat, we gotta play with that chip on our shoulder."
Pickrell finished with a team-high seven points, scoring five goals and dishing out two assists. Junior JT Parvin matched Pickrell's five goals and added an assist. Wesley Morrill finished with three goals and two assists.
Freshman Alex Sassi also had a hat trick and his classmate Alex Werrell won 18-of-22 faceoffs. Ethan Rudick was a menace on defense, picking up two groundballs, causing six turnovers and scoring a goal in the second half.
Gulf Breeze pulled away early, scoring two goals late in the first quarter to take a 5-2 lead and then the first six goals of the second quarter.
Navarre battled through much of the first period, getting a big juice goal when senior captain Elijah Busby scored while falling down to cut the Dolphins lead to 3-2 with 2:22 left in the frame. Parvin finished a first quarter hat trick with 50 seconds left in the opening period, and Ben Cozart followed that with a goal in transition 16 seconds later.
Werrell went to work at the faceoff dot in the second quarter and Navarre had no answer for Gulf Breeze playing make-it, take-it. The Raiders focused on locking down Cozart, but that only opened up more opportunities for sharpshooters like Pickrell, crease finishers like Parvin, and others.
"It was nice to have a good second quarter in this game," Dolphins head coach Erik Liberatore said. "That's been a letdown for us in the past and you can see the boys persevere through that."
After ending the regular season on a losing streak, Liberatore has seen his team come together in the first two games of the district tournament. Gulf Breeze has outscored its two district tournament games by a combined score of 38-4 and have the chance to prove what they think they already know on Wednesday.
"If we play us, nobody can stand with us in our district," Liberatore said.
While Gulf Breeze has a chance to automatically qualify for the state playoffs, Navarre will have to wait for the playoff selection show. The Raiders entered the district tournament as the No. 8 seed in Region 1-1A and the last team in the field. But Gulf Breeze was the first team out and just two spots behind Navarre in the overall state rankings entering the district tournament.
No matter how this seasons ends, the Raiders have already set the program record for most wins in a season in Christopher McCall's first season as head coach.
"Goals come in bunches in lacrosse, right?" McCall said. "One leads to two to three and then your team can struggle to swing momentum the other way. We have a really young team,, we started five freshmen tonight and so getting those guys just the seasoning of it, the feeling of it. You just try to work as hard as you can swing it to come back in your direction."
District 1-1A semifinals
No. 2 Pensacola Catholic 14, No. 3 Booker T. Washington 0 (Friday)
The Crusaders recorded their third shutout this season and advanced to the district championship.
Jax Lagergren scored a team-high six goals and dished out two assists. Caden Jasso scored a goal and recorded a team-high seven assists. Jacon Smith-Gutenmann added four goals and an assist and picked up five groundballs. Dade Cutter led the Crusaders defense, picking up two groundballs and causing two turnovers.
Catholic previously beat the Wildcats 14-2 on March 4.
Pensacola Catholic (12-7) will play at No. 1 South Walton in District 1-1A championship on April 14 at 7 p.m. The Seahawks beat the Crusaders 12-4 on Feb. 17.
Booker T. Washington (10-5) is eliminated and its season is over. The Wildcats recorded double-digit wins in a season for the first time since 2017, but needed to win the district tournament to qualify for the state playoffs.
Girls lacrosse
District 1-2A semifinals
No. 1 Gulf Breeze 20, No. 4 Tate 3 (Friday)
The Dolphins moved one step closer to a fourth straight district title.
Ann Pair scored a team-high five goals and added four groundballs and three draw controls. Kaleyah Bussing scored four goals and added five groundballs and seven draw controls. Roz Palmer finished with a hat trick and four draw controls.
Gulf Breeze led 8-0 at the end of the first quarter and forced a running clock on a Bussing goal with 7:35 left in the third quarter. The Dolphins previously beat Tate 23-0 on Feb. 25 and 20-2 on March 25.
Gulf Breeze (13-3) will host No. 2 Navarre in the District 1-2A championship on April 14 at 6 p.m. The Dolphins beat the Raiders 20-10 on March 9.
No. 2 Navarre 12, No. 3 Niceville 7
The Raiders led 4-2 at halftime before pulling away from the Eagles in the second half. Navarre outscored Niceville 4-1 in the third quarter before holding steady in the final frame.
The Raiders previously beat the Eagles 17-10 on Feb. 18 and 15-7 on March 11.
Navarre (15-3) will play at No. 1 Gulf Breeze in the District 1-2A championship on April 14 at 6 p.m.
District 1-1A semifinals
No. 2 Pensacola Catholic 17, No. 3 West Florida 3 (Friday)
The Crusaders rolled past the Jaguars and into the district championship.
Pensacola Catholic previously beat West Florida 18-0 on Feb. 12
Pensacola Catholic (11-7) will play at No. 1 South Walton in District 1-1A championship on April 15 at 6 p.m..
West Florida (13-6) is eliminated from the district tournament and now awaits its playoff fate. The Jaguars were the first team out of the Region 1-1A playoffs at the start of the district tournament. If they move into the field, it would be the program's first ever state playoff appearance.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Lacrosse district championships set for Pensacola area teams
Continue reading...
