The Ponte Vedra girls lacrosse team showcased their ability to focus on the task at hand with a convincing 17-4 win over Fletcher in the District 2-2A Championship April 13.
Despite playing under an interim head coach and dealing with several outside distractions in recent weeks, the squad was able to come together and achieve one of their goals heading into the season.
Winning a district title is always special for everyone involved, but especially for defender Sarah James, who is the lone senior on this year’s team.
“With everything that has happened this year, I am very proud of how the team came together,” James said. “I think each of us took our own role and we succeeded as a team, which is really exciting.”
The result in the title game was very similar to when the Sharks faced the Senators about a week prior to cap the regular season, a contest the Sharks won 15-1 April 8.
As the season has gone, the Sharks have continued to make strides and see improvement as the team’s plethora of young players have developed relationships with fellow teammates throughout the year.
That progressive growth is one thing that has James so excited and looking forward to the state playoffs right around the corner.
“From the beginning of the year, we’ve gotten better with every single practice and game,” she said. “We just continue to put our best effort forward. We’re just going one step at a time, and next up is regionals and then hopefully onto states.”
With their district title performance against the Senators the Sharks secured the No. 3 seed in Region 1-2A and will host sixth-seeded Creekside High at 7 p.m. April 22.
If the Sharks play defense like they did during the district tournament, the state playoffs could be a memorable one indeed.
Junior goalie Ava LaManna stood tall in net and her defense in front of her proved up to whatever challenge they faced against the Senators and Sandalwood Saints in the district semifinals.
The Sharks only surrendered five goals combined in the two district tournament games they played.
“I feel like I’ve taught the younger girls some lessons and hopefully have helped pave the way for them in these upcoming years,” James said. “It’s an honor to be a captain on this team.”
