American Heritage-Delray girls lacrosse steamrolls into third straight state final
The American Heritage-Delray girls lacrosse team continues to prove its place among Florida's best high school athletic programs.
The Stallions (21-1) will compete for a state championship for the third consecutive season on Saturday after dominating St. Stephen's Episcopal 22-5 on Friday at the Paradise Coast Sports Complex in Naples.
American Heritage-Delray will face Lake Highland Prep on Saturday at 7 p.m. in a rematch of the 2022 Class 1A state championship game.
Orlando's Highlanders narrowly defeated Ponte Vedra 9-8 in their respective Friday semifinal.
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It's a rematch!
The Stallions finished as state runner-up last season after losing to Lake Highland Prep 10-8 in the state final. That Heritage team finished 18-3 with its other two losses against Maryland-based programs.
Head coach John McClain's squad has not lost to a Florida-based program in 2023. The Stallions' lone loss came 14-13 against Cardinal Gibbons (North Carolina) on March 10.
Orlando's Lake Highland Prep remains one of the top rivals to American Heritage-Delray: The Stallions and Highlanders faced on March 3 this season with American Heritage-Delray narrowly prevailing 11-9.
Contextualizing the Stallions' dominance
A win Saturday will give this American Heritage-Delray squad a place among the successful lacrosse programs in Palm Beach County history.
Since losing on March 10, American Heritage-Delray has won 14 consecutive games. That includes a nine-game streak of complete dominance over Florida programs with wins over private schools like American Heritage-Plantation, Saint Andrew's, Benjamin and IMG Academy.
In that nine-game win streak, the Stallions have outscored Florida opponents 164-33. That's an average margin of victory of 18-3 in a stretch that includes district, region and state semifinal opponents.
The Stallions have an overall record of 63-5 over nearly four seasons dating back to the COVID-19 shortened 2020 campaign.
American Heritage-Delray girls lacrosse is seeking its third state championship program after winning titles in 2021 and 2018.
Eric J. Wallace is deputy sports editor for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at ejwallace@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: American Heritage-Delray girls lacrosse rolls into third straight state final
