VERO BEACH — The Vero Beach boys lacrosse team entered districts with losses in four of its final five regular season matches.
One week however can make quite the difference.
Vero completed a dominant run to its fifth district title in the last six years by crushing Lake Nona 18-4 in the District 8-2A Final on Wednesday, April 15 from the Citrus Bowl. After failing to win the crown last season, Vero Beach, the district’s No. 1 seed, won its three tournament matches by a combined margin of 55-9.
“We came out with a lot of fire tonight and thought we played pretty well,” Vero senior Tayton Farrow said. “It was a fun game overall. I feel like we moved the ball well and were pretty good on attack.”
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Farrow, who leads the team with 44 goals, 32 assists and 76 points this season, was one of nine players on the home side to score on Wednesday. He notched three goals, as did team captain Austin Banzhaf, who tacked on three assists to finish with a match-high six points. Zack Franco paced all players with five goals.
Elsewhere, Dominic Foderaro had three assists to go with a team-best 10 ground balls. The sophomore was successful in the faceoff circle, winning 14 of 26 attempts.
Eleven Vero players in total earned points on a night where every player on the roster saw playing time, a luxury that the victors were afforded in a blowout.
“I certainly would’ve liked a little bit harder game today. At the same token, I had the opportunity to get everyone in the game today,” Vero Beach head coach Rory Whipple said. “Everybody got to play and they got good time. Going forward when the games get harder, we’re not going to be able to get everybody in.”
While districts didn’t serve to be the toughest test, Whipple believes his team has the talent to withstand the challenges moving forward.
Farrow, Banzhaf and Franco paced the squad’s offense. Farrow and Franco (42 G, 5 A) do their damage from attack while Banzhaf (42 G, 31 A) operates out of the midfield. Freshmen Griffin Needham (19 G, 26 A) and Henry DiLella (18 G, 9 A) round the team’s top five in points.
On the other side of the field, Whipple calls his defense “complete.”
Senior Brandon Cochrane serves as one of the team’s top defenders. Fellow senior Marco Muller controls the action from the defensive midfield while long-stick middle William Della Porta leads the team in takeaways (62).
That’s all in front of junior goaltender Liam Watson. He has 155 saves and a .576 save percentage.
“This is the best team that I’ve had,” Whipple said. “We’ve won districts before, but this is the most balance that we’ve had.”
Vero Beach entered districts ranked fourth in Region 2-2A. The team may be in line to move up a spot as third-ranked Boone dropped its District 7-2A Final to top-ranked Winter Park.
Either way, Vero is in a good position to potentially host a regional quarterfinal game on Tuesday in what its players hope is just the start to a long playoff run.
“We have to stay hungry and keep playing together,” Farrow said. “We got to stay motivated, stay confident going into these next few games. They’re going to be a lot tougher, so we have to stay ready.”
Other Boys District Finals
District 8-1A
No. 1 Benjamin (11-5) 18, No. 2 St. Edward’s (9-7) 3: The Pirates suffered their worst loss of the season after falling to the Buccaneers on Thursday from Palm Beach Gardens.
Benjamin began its separation by scoring three times over the final five minutes of the opening quarter to push to a 5-1 lead at quarter’s end. That gap extended to 10-2 midway through the second before the hosts entered halftime with a 12-3 advantage.
Stats were unavailable.
Defeating Jensen Beach 14-2 in the district semifinals, St. Edward’s will look to recover at regionals. The Pirates were fourth in Region 2-1A while the Falcons were eighth.
District 14-2A
No. 1 Jupiter (14-3) 21, No. 2 Martin County (9-7) 6: The Tigers suffered their largest margin of defeat this season after dropping a road match to the Warriors.
Jupiter has defeated Martin County twice this season by a combined total of 42-13.
Ranked fourth in Region 2-4A, the Tigers are a lock to qualify for regionals. And if the rankings hold, Martin County could have a potential rematch with the Warriors in the regional semifinals.
Patrick Bernadeau is a sports reporter for Treasure Coast Newspapers. He can be reached at 772-985-9692, on X at @PatBernadeau or via email at pbernadeau@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: District Boys Lacrosse: Vero Beach blasts Lake Nona, regains title
Reporting by Patrick Bernadeau, Treasure Coast Newspapers / Treasure Coast Newspapers
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