SWFL Roundup for April 24-29: CSN stuns Cardinal Mooney; Naples sweeps 3A-12 track
FRIDAY
Girls Lacrosse
Saint Stephen's 10, Community School 5
BRADENTON - Sometimes the preparation and the matchups do not come into play.
Sometimes it comes down to intangibles.
And that is what it took for the Saint Stephen’s Episcopal girls lacrosse team to advance.
“They just played hard,” Falcons coach Tod Creneti said. “That was a super, physical, talented team, and we just had to dig down and play hard. And they competed.”
Breaking a 4-all tie with six straight goals and using an air-tight defense in the second half, Saint Stephen’s earned the Class 1A-Region 3 title by doubling up visiting Community School of Naples, 10-5, Friday evening at the Moore Athletic Complex at Turner Fields.
After capturing the first regional title in program history, the undefeated Falcons advance to the Final 4 on May 5 at either 5 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. at Paradise Coast Sports Complex in Naples against an opponent to be determined.
Despite being held to their lowest scoring output of the season, the Falcons (17-0) adjusted their style to match the physical play of the Seahawks.
“Sometimes that’s what it comes down to,” Creneti said. “You can talk about preparation, experience. That was a talented team that competed very hard and our girls just had to compete. They had to out-compete that team.”
“They played good, hard lacrosse,” Community School of Naples coach Brett Queener said. “They stepped up and they shined a little bit brighter than us.”
Sophomore Haley Rosa opened the scoring for Saint Stephen’s with two goals in the first 1 minute, 17 seconds of the game. Her second goal was the 100th of her career.
“It was great. Having that momentum to start it off is really encouraging for the whole team,” Rosa said. “Obviously the goal was to win tonight, but to get 100 goals is obviously a plus. Having my sister (senior Bella) and Ashling (Marshall) and Sienna (Cassella) on attack is a great plus.”
Community School of Naples (15-3) responded with two goals of its own by Jillian Daley and Tatum Kocaj.
The Falcons went up 4-2 on tallies by Marshall and Cassella.
“Very important,” Marshall said on maintaining the advantage. “It’s about mindset, too. If we get some in the beginning, it can lower their self-esteem. So, it’s like a mental game, and that definitely helps.”
Again, the Seahawks responded with a pair of goals by Hadley Tarrasch and Ruby Smith.
Then, Saint Stephen’s took off.
The Falcons scored six straight goals, three by Haley Rosa, two by Cassella and one by Bella Rosa.
“Stop No. 4, 14, 9 and 10,” Queener said of the Seahawks’ strategy to stop Cassella, Marshall and the Rosa sisters. “All four of them had all 10 of their goals.”
More importantly, the Saint Stephen’s defense, spearheaded by sophomore goalie Annesley Flint, who made six saves, kept Community School of Naples off the board for 25:11.
“I was real excited about our defense,” Creneti said. “They did a great job protecting the middle of the field. We’ve scored a lot of points this year, and the offense has gotten a lot of attention. That defense has delivered in every big game all year. Tonight, was their best.
“We’re so lucky to have the kids on defense that we do. Ainsley is a fantastic player.”
“We did pretty good, communicated well,” Marshall said of the defensive effort. “It was one of our best ones.”
It took one of the Falcons’ best efforts of the season to turn back a Community School of Naples team that had won four straight and 15 of 16.
“It was a great season being district champions and making it to the regional finals,” Queener said. “We have a great group of seniors and leaders. They were the first class to make it to a Final Four and made it to two regional finals, so they left a great legacy.”
The Falcons’ dream season carries on.
“We used to look up to the older girls who went off to college to play lacrosse and think they did the most and we could never do that,” Marshall said. “This is pretty big for us.”
“We go to States. That’s a pretty good accomplishment in itself,” Haley Rosa said.
“That team has done something that no team has ever done before, and that’s what we’re celebrating,” Creneti said.
— Dennis Maffezzoli
Over a dozen Canterbury athletes sign letters of intent
Opting to do one ceremony closer to the end of the calendar year, a total of 17 Canterbury athletes signed letters of intent across a range of sports.
The Cougars saw five baseball players sign, headlined by FSW signee Austin Schrowe. The left-hander is 8-1 on the mound, with a 0.77 ERA, with 91 strikeouts across 45 2/3 innings pitched.
Three soccer players from this year's state runner-up team also signed their letters of intent, all of which had a big part in allowing just eight goals all season. Defenders Conor Thomas and Jayson Gordon, along with Mason Ricker, are headed to the next level at Old Dominion, Willamette, and Trinity College of Florida. Ricker was voted as the Florida Dairy Farmers Class 2A Player of the Year and was a News-Press All-Area First Team selection, along with Thomas.
On the volleyball front, libero Chandler Swanson put pen to paper with Boston College, while setter Jordan Curran inked with Marist. Hitter Kayla Huether inked with Wittenburg after ending her five-year prep career with 817 kills. All three were News-Press All-Area First Team selections this past season, and are nominated for the Southwest Florida Volleyball Player of the Year award.
Here's a full list of those that signed at Canterbury on Friday:
Michelle Barnes, Track and Field, Colby College
Tyler Bouchard, Baseball, Navy
Alex Camarca, Football, St. Thomas University
Jordan Curran, Volleyball, Marist College
AJ Finco, Baseball, Maryville College
Bryce Habuda, Baseball, East Tennessee State University
Kayla Huether, Volleyball, Wittenburg University
Alden Gomez, Lacrosse, Maine Maritime Academy
Jayson Gordon, Soccer, Willamette College
Dom Meady, Baseball, Quincy College
Mason Ricker, Soccer, Trinity College of Florida
Zach Roberts, Swimming, Valparaiso University
Gianluca Saracino, Football, Middlebury College
Austin Schrowe, Baseball, Florida SouthWestern State College
Chandler Swanson, Volleyball, Boston College
Conor Thomas, Soccer, Old Dominion University
Hunter Thomas, Football, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
THURSDAY
State Tennis
The Gulf Coast boys team reached the Class 4A team final after defeating Spruce Creek 4-2.
In the championship, Palmetto defeated Gulf Coast for the team title 4-0.
"We had an amazing run that was fueled by everyone on the team," Gulf Coast head coach Tom Zucchi said. "We were strong at each position in the lineup and each player provided the team with a performance that kept us alive in the run at a title."
Ivan Kisic and Hudson Fry withdrew from the Class 4A team doubles final.
Zucchi singled out Fry, a senior captain, for "guiding a team to its best finish in school history with some incredible play and leadership."
Softball
Mariner 1, Fort Myers 0 (9 Innings): Cheyenne Waddell led off the bottom of the ninth with a double, Taylor Cotoni singled and Mariah Wooldridge hit a walk-off single to win the game. Crimson Lawrence pitched a complete-game shutout, striking out 7.
North Fort Myers 10, North Port 0 (5 innings): Kendall Wylie threw a no-hitter with seven strikeouts. Wylie, Azlynn Gomes, and Liliana Hertzog all drove in runs.
Oasis 10, SFCA 0: Alaina Shugars hit a first-inning RBI triple and Shugars, Eva Selfridge, Emma Neujhar, and Samantha Clay had RBI hits in a 5-run fifth inning. Selfridge earned the shutout in the circle.
WEDNESDAY
Boys Lacrosse
Community School 13, Cardinal Mooney 12
On a night where the Community School boys lacrosse team was far from its A-game, their best player was. And it arguably came in the most important moment of the Seahawks’ season.
Ramsey Huggins scored a career-high nine goals Wednesday night against Cardinal Mooney, helping CSN (16-3) advance to the Class 1A-Region 3 championship game after a dramatic 13-12 win.
When the two teams faced in the playoffs last season, the Seahawks escaped with a one-goal win, 8-7, over the Cougars. Much like the way last season is taking shape, CSN will travel to Tampa to take on top-seeded Jesuit on Saturday.
“He’s a stud,” CSN coach Keith Lee said. “There’s not much you can say about the kid. He’s a stud. He knows what he needs to do. For a senior to put the team on his back like he did tonight, he’s a stud. I hope any type of accolade that comes his way, he’s deserving of it. We still have a team accolade to go after in a state championship. After that, I hope Ramsey gets every accolade possible.”
Huggins upped his total on the season to 77 goals, which is good enough for fifth statewide. The Dickinson College signee opened the scoring at the 10:37 mark in the first quarter, and generated three consecutive goals in four minutes at the end of the third quarter to help the Seahawks lead 10-8 after trailing 8-6 at the 8:32 mark in the period.
“I’m a big mental guy,” Huggins said. “I took a good pregame nap, about three, three and a half hours before the game. I was dialed in right off the bat. Each goal being timed up generated more and more energy for me. Having my brothers around me keeping us hype and keeping the energy was awesome.”
Over the final five minutes, CSN saw a three-goal lead erased, when James Frankauski, Sean Laureano, and Carter Westendorf all scored to tie the game at 12. From there, a pivotal face-off ensued, in which Huggins forced a Mooney turnover to regain possession.
Noah Cardoza may only have seven goals on the season, but his biggest one of the season came with 43 seconds remaining thanks to the forced turnover by Huggins. The sophomore weaved his way down the middle of the field, beating Mooney goalie Jacob Brown to seal the win for the Seahawks.
“The final minute was keeping the ball away from them as long as possible,” Lee said. “They did a great job defensively; they did a great job pressing us. They did a great job shooting. Hats off to Cardinal Mooney because they gave us a hell of a game. When we went and played there earlier this season, we won by four.
“For them to put in the effort forth that they did, hats off to them. I’m just happy we were able to stay alive.”
The Cougars put forth a strong effort in the first half, holding CSN scoreless for a span of 15:06 between the first and second quarters. Mooney and the Seahawks were level at 6 after 24 minutes of action, as Frankauski, Laureano, Carston Shepherd, and Giovanni Zanoni all found the back of the net at least once.
“One key was to take transition away from them, and we didn’t do that,” Lee said. “They are very dangerous in transition. It started offensively, taking shots we didn’t want to take, to give their goalies easy saves and letting them break in transition.”
Mooney’s season concludes with a 12-7 record with a six-game win streak coming to a screeching halt. Community School is one win away from the program’s first Final Four appearance, and will look to deny Jesuit of making it to the Paradise Coast Sports Complex in back-to-back seasons. The two teams faced last year, with the Tigers winning 9-6 in Tampa.
“I think it’s just every possession, taking a deep breath and just understanding where you are and how important this is to every guy on the field,” Huggins said. “We have to be connected from the goalie all the way down to the attack. We’ve got to work together, and know that everyone’s got your back and trust every guy on the field with you.”
— Alex Martin
Jesuit 13, Bishop Verot 5: The Tigers ended Verot’s season with a convincing regional semifinal win.
Plant 20, Gulf Coast 7: The Sharks could not hang around with the Panthers, allowing 20 or more goals against Plant for the second consecutive year.
Class 3A-District 12 Track
The Naples boys and girls steamrolled to victories Thursday afternoon to win the Class 3A-District 12 Championships.
The Golden Eagle boys’ had one triple winner as Hector Toro took first in the 1600, 3200 and anchored the 4x800 to victory.
The same held true for the Naples girls as Annabelle Dailey duplicated Toro’s distance triple. “It was hot,” said Dailey after competing in the heat and humidity.
One field event performer stood out for Naples as Luther Mogelvang cleared 15-3 in the pole vault.
“I feel really happy for our kids, it just shows how much work they’ve put in,” said Naples head coach Bronze Bruland.
The Barron Collier girls finished second thanks to the sprinting of Liusmar Rivas Velasquez. She took the 200 and 400 while running a leg on the Cougars' winning 4x400 team.
South Fort Myers grabbed second on the boys side thanks in large part to the Enquita brothers Chase and Quinn. Chase did his part by scoring valuable sprint points in the 100 and 200 while running a leg on the Wolfpack’s winning 4x100 team. Quinn took the 100 meter hurdles title and snagged second in the 400 hurdles.
Sprinter Da’Marri Loggins also helped the Wolfpack cause, winning both the 100 and 200.
Individual qualifiers move on to the Class 3A-Region 3 Championship on Thursday, May 4 in Punta Gorda.
Girls Team: Naples 257 2. Barron Collier 197 3. Lely 49 4. South Fort Myers 38 5. Cypress Lake 28 6. Golden Gate 23 7. Immokalee 21 8. Bonita Springs 16 9. East Lee County 4
Individual: 100 1. Genesis Surlin, Naples 12.52; 2. Sadya Davis, Naples 13.27; 200 1. Liusmar Rivas Velasquez, Barron Collier 26.30; 2. Shamoya Clemtson, Barron Collier 26.71 400 1. Liusmar Rivas Velasquez, Barron Collier 59.19 2. Tarrah Naghib, Naples 1:01.13 800 Tara Watkins, Naples 2:21.97. 2. Sophia Friedhoff, Lely 2:29.46 1600 1. Annabelle Dailey, Naples 5:25.68 2. Amelia Jones, Naples 5:34.66 3200 1. Annabelle Dailey, Naples 11:58.43 2. Addison Gurick, Barron Collier 12:28.98 100 Hurdles 1 Shamoya Clemetson, Barron Collier 14.87 2. Liusmar Rivas Velasquez, Barron Collier 15.45 400 Hurdles 1. Meghan McKernan, Naples 1:08.23 2. Hannah Finman, Naples 1:13.72 4x100 1. Naples 49.29 2. Lely 52.22 4x400 1. Barron Collier 4:03.87 2. Naples 4:08.41 4x800 1. Naples, 10:08.0 2. Barron Collier 10:47.78 High Jump 1. Hennsley Sarajian, Naples 1.32 2. Cameron Marzak 1.22 Pole Vault 1. Madison Bates, Naples 3.15, Cameron Bates, Naples 3.15 Long Jump 1. Shamoya Clemetson, Barron Collier 5.96 2. Genesis Surlin, Naples 5.61 Triple Jump 1. Nedgine Morancy, Lely 11.88 2. Genesis Surlin, Naples 11.22 Shot Put 1. Cherldine Paul, Barron Collier 9.93 2. Chloe Jones, Naples 9.73 Discus 1. Cloelle Altaratz, Barron Collier 35.12 2. Sarah Hopkins Bonita Springs 30.22 Javelin 1. Rebecca Van’t Hoff, Barron Collier 33.96 2. Catherine Laur, Barron Collier 33.56
Boys Team: Naples 241 2. South Fort Myers 98 3. Lely 81 4. Golden Gate 74 5. Barron Collier 72 6. Immokalee 48 7. Cypress Lake 42 8. Bonita Springs 19 9. East Lee County 12
Individual: 100 1.Da’Marri Loggins, SFM 11.02 2. Keylijah Williams, Naples 11.12 1. Da’Marri Loggins, SFM 22.34 2. Keylijah Williams, Naples 22.84 400 1. Harvey Sarjian, Naples 51.06 2. Isaiah Bryant, Naples 51.32 800 1. Matthew Damouni, Naples 2:02.07 2. Jack Marshall 2:02.41 1600 1. Hector Toro, Naples 4:33.01 2. Jack Marshall, Naples 4:35.67 1. Hector Toro, Naples, 10:18.54 2. Michael Brewer, Naples 10:19.44 100 Hurdles 1. Quinn Equita, SFM 16.11 2. Dylan Schmid, Barron Collier 16.53 400 Hurdles 1. Chandon Pierre, Immokalee 58.18 2. Quinn Equita, SFM 1:00.36 4x100 1. SFM 42.66 2. Lely 43.60 4x400 1. Naples 3:31.85 2. Golden Gate 3:36.40 4x800 1. Naples 8:22.49 2. Immokalee 8:37.18 High Jump 1. Whylkeems Estimond, Golden Gate 1.87 2. Dave Louidor, Lely 1.82 Pole Vault 1. Luther Mogelvang, Naples 4.65 2. Cooper Tunkle, Naples 3.45 Long Jump 1. Kendrick Moore, Cypress Lake 6.60 2. Justin White, SFM 6.59 Triple Jump 1. Nehemiah Vilsaint, Lely 13.48 2. Jakeem Tanelus, Lely 13.29 Shot Put 1. Brady Clark, Naples 14.48 2. Luke Walker, Naples 13.34 Discus 1. Joshua Dixon, SFM 42.60 2. Luke Walker, Naples 40.42 Javelin 1. Brady Clark, Naples 41.60 2. Ezkiel Dube-Garrett, Cypress Lake 40.98
State Tennis
In Class 4A, Gulf Coast advanced to the state semifinals with a 4-0 win against Plant. The Sharks will face Spruce Creek on Thursday.
Gulf Coast's No. 1 doubles team Ivan Kisic and Hudson Fry also advanced to the team doubles final with a 6-4, 7-6(5) win against Winter Park's team.
In Class 3A, William Freshwater finished as the state runner up in the team singles and doubles with partner Jonas Bauer.
As a team, the Cougars fell 4-3 in the semifinals to St. Thomas Aquinas on Tuesday.
In Class 2A, the Estero girls lost 5-0 to Academy of the Holy Names. Meghan Lay and Gianella Salas lost in a third-set tiebreaker in the team doubles, and Lay also suffered a third-set tiebreak defeat in the team singles - both in the first round.
In individual play, Estero's John Brodeur lost his first round match and fell in the doubles quarterfinals with partner Nicholas Snow.
In Class 1A, Community School lost in the semifinals 4-2 to True North.
In team singles, Community School's Lily Dounchis advanced to the state final where she lost to Pensacola Catholic's Gabriella Goyins in straight sets.
Dounchis became a state champion, along with partner Sophia Min, in the Class 1A team doubles, defeating the Pensacola Catholic girls team 8-3.
Beach Volleyball
Seacrest Country Day 3, Estero 2
The Stingrays upset the No. 1 seed in Class 1A-District 24, winning 3-2 over the Wildcats.
Alexa Haley and Brooke Spurgeon, both starters for Seacrest's state championship team in 2021 and 2022, won a three-set match to win the district title in No. 1 doubles.
"I am extremely happy for all of our Seacrest players," Seacrest coach Jan Class said. "They always work as a team and put each other and the school first in everything they do."
The Stingrays will move onto regionals, scheduled for May 2.
TUESDAY
Softball
North Fort Myers 3, Bishop Verot 0: The Red Knights rose to the challenge of facing the top-ranked team in Lee County on Tuesday.
North put together a flawless outing on their home field — building an early lead, pitching well and playing mistake-free defense.
“Ecstatic right now for our coaching staff and our kids,” North head coach Jeff Miner said. “They work so darn hard, and it was nice to see everything work together.”
At the end of the game, North coaches adorned pitcher Kendall Wylie and catcher Mia Lane with gold chains for their performances. Wylie’s chain said “Da Bomb” for her first-inning RBI triple, while Lane earned the “Golden Glove” for throwing out a Verot baserunner trying to steal in the sixth inning.
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“They’re the No. 1 team in Lee County, so we wanted to come out and prove that we could compete and beat them,” Wylie said.
In seven innings, Wylie gave up just two hits, two walks and struck out a pair of batters.
“I just wanted to throw first-pitch strikes and limit the walks and let my defense work because my defense has my back always,” she said.
The Red Knights were seeing red at the plate to start, as Audrey Florenzano got to first on a bunt single and was scored by Wylie’s triple. North added another run on an error on a hard-hit ball by Lane.
The Red Knights extended their lead to 3-0 in the second inning with an RBI single by Abby Hynes, who had two hits on the day along with Kaliyah Williams. The team totaled eight knocks overall.
“We were just looking for pitches in the zone and just came out there and swung our bats,” Wylie said.
Melanie Moreno was responsible for both of the Vikings’ hits on Tuesday. Verot's Camryn Feast left the game after getting injured in the fourth inning.
North made no errors in the field and came up with several nice plays on defense, like Lane’s throw out, handled smoothly by second baseman Azlynn Gomes.
“I was ready for it,” Lane said. “It just felt good that I actually did it.”
For the Red Knights, who improved to 19-2, this was an important, confidence-building win ahead of the district tournament with dangerous potential opponents like Fort Myers, Mariner and Ida Baker, Miner said.
“You want to have momentum going into districts, feeling good about yourself and saying you can play with anybody, and Verot is well coached,” he said. “They have an outstanding ball club. This gives us momentum.”
— Dustin Levy
Cypress Lake 21, South Fort Myers 6: Bri Madore was the winning pitcher. Megan Hall was 2-for-3 with 6 RBI. Emma Hayman scored three runs and Karlie Sabo was 2-for-2.
Bonita Springs 12, Oasis 1: Willow Cain, Alaina Shugars, Audrey Doan, and Meesha Neujhar each collected one hit for the Sharks.
Girls Regional Lacrosse
CSN 19, Academy of the Holy Names 11
Community School wasted no time in advancing to the Class A-Region 3 title game Tuesday night.
The Seahawks piled on the goals early and often on the way to a 19-11 victory over the Academy of the Holy Names Academy at Community, putting CSN into position to play for a berth in the state semifinals on Friday.
Jillian Daley scored four goals, and Ruby Smith, Tatum Kocaj and Hadley Tarrasch each scored three goals for the Seahawks (15-2).
Niki Ferrante and Emma Smith each also found the net twice as the Seahawks won for the 15th time in the last 16 games. CSN's last loss came on Feb. 18.
“The girls played hard, and we were happy to get the victory,” said CSN coach Brett Queener. “We showed a lot of teamwork, and everyone got involved. We had four players with hat tricks, and our draw team was successful.”
“We are excited to be proceeding on to the final round,” Daley said. “The first goal early in the game motivated us a lot. After that, everyone wanted to give 110 percent. This was the seniors’ last home game, so we wanted to play hard. We had to do it for the seniors.”
Ruby scored to give the Seahawks a 1-0 advantage only 51 seconds into the game. Ruby would score again 45 seconds later. After two goals each by Daley, Kocaj and Tarrasch, the Seahawks built up an 8-1 lead.
The Jaguars (13-4) managed to make it closer later in the first half. After two goals apiece by Lauren Martinez and Reese MacDiarmid, Holy Names got to within 8-4 with 4:52 remaining until halftime.
It was 10-4 at halftime.
The second half allowed Queener the opportunity to put in subs, so people like Sloane Atterbury and Sophia Dahlquist also got into the scoring column.
It was the Seahawks’ second-highest-scoring output of the season. The only time CSN scored more was in a 22-0 win over Estero on April 11.
− Thomas Corwin
Plant 15, Gulf Coast 10: Plant, the region's top seed, ended the Sharks' season in the Class 2A-Region semifinals.
State tennis
Several SWFL tennis players saw their seasons come to an end on Tuesday.
In the Class 3A girls tournament, Riverdale’s Indi Patel lost in the singles semifinal in a heartbreaker. Varela’s Yarlin Mendoza bested her 5-4, 0-4, 11-9. Patel and Macy Costigan reached the doubles final before falling 2-8 in the championship match.
Ida Baker’s Nicholas Bonaparte also made the singles semifinal on Tuesday. Gainesville’s Patrick Dong defeated him 4-2, 4-0. Bonaparte and Todd Bennie lost in the first round of the doubles tournament.
MONDAY
State Tennis
St. Petersburg girls defeated Fort Myers 4-0 in the Class 3A state quarterfinals on Monday.
In individual play, Riverdale's Indi Patel, the top seed in the girls' 3A bracket, won her quarterfinal match 6-2, 6-0. She will face Varela's Yarlin Mendoza in the semifinals on Tuesday.
In Class 1A, Bishop Verot's team of Ron Domeier and Kevin Johns lost in the first round of the doubles tournament. Domeier also went down 3-6, 1-6 in his first-round singles match.
Softball
Fort Myers 4, Charlotte 1: Kylee Vagle's two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the sixth inning broke a 1-1 tie. Chloe Wademan followed with an RBI single for some insurance. Julia Knowler allowed one unearned run on five hits with six strikeouts for the win.
Cypress Lake 6, Naples 2: Sammi Rosado threw a complete game with 17 strikeouts. Emma Hayman had a home run and a double with 4 RBI.
Ida Baker 13, Oasis 5: Kaylee Lambert had four hits, drove in four, and scored three times for Ida Baker, while Averie Taylor added two hits and 3 RBI. Eva Selfridge hit her first home run and scored three times for Oasis.
LaBelle 20, St. John Neumann 0
Baseball
Mariner 5, ECS 3: Xavier Muentes had two hits and drove in two runs for Mariner. Landon Johnston added an RBI and scored two runs.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: SWFL Roundup April 24-29: State tennis, regional lacrosse, district track, baseball, softball
