Lakeland lacrosse's Yasiel Sihombing joins elite company with milestone score
If one would have spoken to Yasiel Sihombing three years ago about the prospect of accomplishing a high school lacrosse milestone, he may have said that it is unlikely to happen. But three years into playing the sport of lacrosse at a high level, it comes to no surprise to Sihombing and those around him.
Sihombing on March 5 racked up 100 career points against Winter Haven High School at home, which put him in the company of Kaleb Cook — a senior at Florida Southern — and Lakeland's very own Luke Mowrer as the only other 100-point scorers in school history.
One of the goals that put him at 100 points was a play in which he caught a ball on a fast break and did a quick turnaround before using nifty moves to slip past a goalie trying to hit him, shooting the ball into the net for a score — one of his three goals for the game. At that moment, Sihombing didn’t know he hit the 100-point mark, but the next day he confirmed the 100 points.
“I was actually very thrilled about that. I went and told my family: I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I was able to do this,’” Sihombing said. “...I’ve just been doing my thing outside of lacrosse season, putting in my work (off) the field and working hard not under the lights.”
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Two years ago, Sihombing was a student at Summerlin Academy where he took a precalculus class. It was there that then-former Bartow head coach Derek Keating goaded Sihombing into playing the game of lacrosse. The then-sophomore agreed before playing at Bartow for the next two years.
Unfortunately for Sihombing, Keating took the assistant principal and athletic director roles at Bartow in 2023 — his junior year — so Sihombing for the 2024 season elected to transfer to Polk State Collegiate High School and play at Lakeland High School — the program where head coach Zach Brownlee is at the helm; Sihombing had experience training and playing under Brownlee.
The now-senior learned a lot from both coaches, which has led to Lakeland amassing an 8-2 record; the Fort Meade native is also a two-time all-county player.
“I’d say working hard and staying disciplined as far as practice goes and pretty much anything on the field, off the field, schoolwork (is what they taught me)," he said. "Just being disciplined in every aspect is something I learned from them, (and) I’ve been able to apply since I’ve started.”
The enlightenment that Sihombing received from both coaches has led Lakeland’s top goal scorer to playing on the Puerto Rican 18U national team later this year, while also garnering interest from several NAIA and Division II schools. His goal right now is to find the best situation to play lacrosse on the next level.
Lakeland’s next game will be against Bartow (1-7), 6 p.m. Friday at home.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lakeland top lacrosse scorer Sihombing notches 100th point in career
