- November 5, 2024
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The night started with Matanzas athletic director Bob Nocella standing near mid-field, sporting a backpack leaf blower that made him look like a WWI-era German flamethrower trooper and trying to negate an afternoon’s worth of downpours.
It ended with the Pirates’ girls lacrosse team slumped on a bench, listening to their final postgame speech of the season as St. Augustine celebrated the District 6 title on their home field.
Sandwiched somewhere in the middle, sophomore Kristie Albano leapt three feet in the air after scoring the game’s first goal off a restart less than three minutes in. FIT-bound senior Stephanie Stuart made 18 saves, some verging on the spectacular. And the Pirates continued to answer the Yellow Jackets well into the second half of a 14-8 loss.
The game — originally slated for 6 p.m. — was delayed due to heavy downpours and frequent lightning. Players were relegated to locker rooms, and warmed up on the practice fields behind the stadium. The contest started around 7:45 p.m.
“I think it psyched us all out, because we weren’t expecting to play after all this weather,” said sophomore Bailee Hurd, who had three goals. “But we brought it, and this was the best we could do.”
Matanzas — trailing 4-2 at the half — didn’t fade without a fight. Senior attacker Kayla Doucette fed a streaking Albano who scored to pull the Pirates within one at 6-5 with 14:47 left in the game. But St. Augustine reeled off four straight goals over the next three minutes to put the game out of reach.
Despite the delays and uncertainty regarding the weather, Pirates coach Anna Stewart saw a group that was riled up to win a potential third straight district championship.
“Most people thought it was going to be cancelled or rained out, and actually it makes for kind of a fun event when you can play in weather like this,” Stewart said. “Our girls were ready to go, their girls were ready to go, and they looked at it is one heck of a way to have a championship game.”
After the game, Stewart conveyed a message to her rain-soaked, muddy group.
“Seniors, you don’t get a re-do,” she said. “Juniors and sophomores, I hope this burns an image in the back of your head.”
St. Augustine swept all three matchups with the Pirates this season, and Matanzas’ seven sophomores and two juniors are reticent to let go of that fact moving forward.
“Oh, we’re going to use this as revenge,” Hurd said. “We’re going to get revenge next year, and we got this.”
Pedro Menendez 15, Flagler Palm Coast 6
Flagler Palm Coast fell behind 3-1 early and never recovered against No. 4 seed Pedro Menendez in the boys’ District 7 final, falling 15-6 in the nightcap.
Alec Noble, Jon Zelaskowski, and Paul Pechmann netted two goals apiece for FPC (6-10, 4-3). Mike Forte had two assists.
"We utilized the rain delay to mentally prepare ourselves and focus on the game plan," FPC coach Ryan Andrews said. "Unfortunately, once the whistle blew, the game plan fell apart."
As the girls’ game ran long, the boys’ teams warmed up in the outfield of Matanzas’ baseball stadium, and began the title game moments after taking their place on the game field.
Menendez upset top-seed St. Augustine in Wednesday’s semifinals.
(Check back for a photo gallery)
