No matter how you break down the Ponte Vedra High girls lacrosse team’s first round victory over Lake Brantley High on April 22, the 21-4 triumph looks impressive, as the Sharks opened the postseason by handling business on both sides of the ball.
After the seventh-seeded Patriots got on the scoreboard first with the game’s first goal, the Sharks answered with three quick goals of their own in less than a minute and kept pouring on the goals from there.
Several players finished with multiple goals on the night as a result, including the likes of Lamb Toole, Brooke Johnson, Grace Raymond and Gracie Madson.
Toole showed a knack for finding the sweet spot in front of the net where she was able to take advantage of several one-on-one opportunities with the opposing goalies, battles she has ended up on the winning side of for most of her career.
“My teammates know me really well and they’re able to find me,” she said. “Having that connection is everything.”
The Sharks opened up a 10-3 lead at halftime and their success continued in the second half despite the Patriots switching out goalies and trying everything they could to slow down the Sharks’ offensive attack.
“I think we’ve come a long way and are just clicking at the right time and playing our best lacrosse when it matters most,” Toole said.
Up next for the Sharks is a matchup with county rival Bartram Trail High, who defeated Navarre High 20-1, in the regional semifinal at the Shark Tank on Tuesday, April 29.
It will be a matchup of top 15 teams in the state and top 50 nationally and the teams are very familiar with each other, with the Sharks winning both times they faced the Bears during the regular season.
“It’s a little tricky because we’ve played them twice and it's obviously hard to beat a good team three times,” Toole said. “We know it's always going to be super competitive and we know that if we play our best we can win.”
