Make way for a second Ponte Vedra lacrosse trophy in the cabinet, and an all-time first for the Sunshine State.
Ponte Vedra’s top-ranked girls lacrosse squad left no doubt in the Florida High School AthleticAssociation Class 2A final, rolling past Oviedo 13-7 at Paradise Coast Sports Complex on May 9.
The Sharks (17-3) captured their first-ever FHSAA girls title, only five hours after the Ponte Vedra boys overcame St. Thomas Aquinas in their own state final.
Those victories make Ponte Vedra the first school ever to win boys and girls lacrosse championships in the same year. Other schools have reached both finals, including St. Thomas Aquinas and Tampa Plant, but failed to achieve the double.
Grace Raymond scored three goals to lead the Sharks to the historic win for coach Kara Koolage, ending a 17-game winning streak for Oviedo.
Ponte Vedra led 6-4 at halftime but blew the game open early in the third, when Raymond, Ila Crowe, Brooke Johnson and Shelby Pare scored in rapid succession to begin the period. The Sharks stretched the lead to six, and Oviedo never came close again.
Pare, Gracie Madson and Abby Kaltman each scored twice for Ponte Vedra, with Crowe, Johnson, Avery Hopf and Giada Antenucci also on the score sheet.
With the victory, Ponte Vedra joins Bartram Trail (2016, 2022, 2023 and 2024) as Northeast Florida’s only girls lacrosse champions in history. The Sharks had previously reached the 2014 and 2015 finals but lost both to Vero Beach.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Ponte Vedra girls win final for double delight in FHSAA lacrosse
Reporting by Clayton Freeman, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
