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« Tuesday, June 10, 2014 « 5C
ALL-AREA BOYS LACROSSE TEAM
player of the year terrell sands
All-Area First Team
Spencer Brennalt
Austin Brodie
Jake Coleman
Troy Fischer
Hunter Jones
Beau Ladwig
ALEX SLITZ/TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS
Aaron McGee
Joe Moltz
St. Edward’s Terrell Sands is the 2014 Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers All-Area Boys Lacrosse Player of the Year. To see more photos, go to TCPalm.com.
Pirates’ magical midfielder Senior Terrell Sands’ hard work showed in his faceoff skills
Ross Pridemore
Wyatt Ripper
By Laurel Pfahler Special to Treasure Coast Newspapers
Winton Roschach
Eric Simon
Derek Stanley
Wyatt Weiseman
SPENCER BRENNALT
South Fork junior defender Stats: Averaged 4.0 takeaways per game
AUSTIN BRODIE
Jensen Beach junior goalie Stats: 75 percent save rate, led defense that allowed only 5.53 goals per game
JAKE COLEMAN
Vero Beach junior longstick midfielder/defender Stats: 2 goals, 84 ground balls, 35 takeaways Poll: Coleman topped our TCPalm.com all-area readers poll with 45 percent of the votes.
TROY FISCHER
Martin County junior midfielder Stats: 29 goals, 7 assists, 88 percent win rate on faceoffs
HUNTER JONES
Martin County senior attacker Stats: 30 goals, 15 assists
BEAU LADWIG
Jensen Beach senior midfielder Stats: 43 goals, 7 assists
AARON MCGEE
St. Edward’s senior defender Stats: 37 ground balls, held opponents he was marking to 14 goals and 11 assists
JOE MOLTZ
Terrell Sands isn’t the one usually getting credit for scoring goals or for stopping an opponent from finding the back of the net, but he loves that his role in lacrosse has an impact on both. The St. Edward’s School senior long-stick midfielder proved his value every game at center circle and just about any time the ball dropped in his vicinity. Sands won 83 of 124 faceoffs he took, posting a 67 percent win rate, and collected 155 ground balls to help the Pirates obtain the best record in District 19 regularseason play and a 10-4 finish. “Possession is everything in lacrosse, so I always try to sharpen my skills on faceoffs and getting ground balls,” Sands said. “That’s one of my favorite things is faceoffs. It’s basically a 3 on 3 battle. The whole game is decided on possession, and every faceoff is a chance to give your team an extra possession after every goal and at the start of every quarter. If it’s a one-goal game, you can win it with possession or score to tie it up.” The area’s only 2014 male U.S. Lacrosse All-American and the coaches’ pick for District 19 Player of the Year, Sands also can add another accolade to his sports resume. He is the 2014 Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers All-Area Boys Lacrosse Player of the Year. “He was the guy on our team that everyone always knew they had to prepare for,” St. Edward’s coach Andy Scheffer said. “He was dominant on faceoffs and so quick getting to the ball. He was a key
Player of the Year
Coach of the Year
TERRELL SANDS
MATT SOFARELLI
St. Edward’s senior long-stick midfielder Stats: Won 83 of 124 faceoffs (67 percent), 7 goals, 2 assists, 155 ground balls Coach Andy Scheffer: “He is not a really big guy, but he’s very quick. He’s the first one to the ball when it drops to the ground. That’s not a skill you can teach. It sounds trite, but he has a real passion for the game. He gets everyone around him excited about playing. It’s still a game to him.”
part in what we did this season.” After going 3-1 in district play during the regular season, St. Edward’s ended its run with a 9-8 overtime loss to eventual District 19 runner-up Vero Beach in the opening round of the tournament, but it was the narrowest margin of victory the Fighting Indians have earned against the Pirates in years. Sands said his role in helping the Pirates gain possession this year was only part of what he sought out to do. His main focus was helping bring along the young players that made up a major portion of the roster. St. Edward’s had nine freshmen and only four seniors, all the latter of whom met with the coaching staff once or twice a week to talk about building a better team atmosphere. “We knew we’d have a good team because of the young talent, but my goal was to push the younger kids, and because of that, I think we had one of the best seasons we’ve had in a long time and will continue to grow,” Sands said. “Our team chemistry was amazing. We went to dinners as a team, we played paint ball — we just did countless things to bring the team together, and it was a great thing to be a part of.”
Now Sands looks forward to continuing his lacrosse career at Division-I High Point University. He has been playing since seventh grade when he joined the Gifford Middle School team as a student at Sebastian River Middle School, where there was no program. Sands liked that lacrosse combined aspects from two of the other sports he used to play, baseball and football, and it seemed to come pretty naturally to him. But even as easy as lacrosse came to him, Sands often would stay after practice for an extra hour or so to work on building up his hand and forearm strength, improve stick skills and add speed and power. It’s that extra attention to the details that helped him to AllAmerican status, following Vero Beach’s Trey Peirce, who became the area’s first male All-American last year. Sands said it was a nice reward for a lot of hard work and the exclamation point to a memorable season with St. Edward’s. “It’s very humbling,” Sands said. “I know the hard work I put in and the hard work others put in, and it’s amazing to be at that level.”
Jensen Beach, fifth year This season: Sofarelli guided the Falcons to their first FHSAA district title in lacrosse, the first one in Martin County since the three public high schools added the sport in 2010 at club status and moved to FHSAA district play in 2012. After avenging a one-goal regular-season loss to Martin County in the District 19 tournament semifinals, Jensen Beach overcame Vero Beach 6-5 in the final to end the Fighting Indians’ streak of eight consecutive district titles. The Falcons lost in the next round to Benjamin, finishing 10-7 as the Buccaneers went on to become state runners-up. All seven of the Falcons losses were decided by four goals or less, including four one-goal games. Quotable: “This was our most talented team coming into Jensen Beach in our five years here. We made it our goal to win districts, and the kids fought through some adversity to do it. They did an incredible job fighting through some one-goal losses and then coming in and beating Martin County, who we lost to earlier in the season, and beating Vero Beach a second time. The credit first goes to the players but then also the entire coaching staff. It was a special thing to be the first team in the county to win an FHSAA district because the talent is getting so much better.”
First Team continued ROSS PRIDEMORE
St. Edward’s eighth-grade attacker Stats: 47 goals, 27 assists, 17 ground balls
WYATT RIPPER
South Fork senior attacker Stats: 48 goals, 18 assist in 14 games
WINTON ROSCHACH Vero Beach senior attacker Stats: 54 goals, 12 assists, 44 ground balls
ERIC SIMON
Martin County sophomore goalie Stats: 60 percent save rate on more than 300 shots faced
DEREK STANLEY
Vero Beach senior defender Stats: 2 goals, 59 ground balls, 29 takeaways
WYATT WEISEMAN Jensen Beach junior midfielder Stats: 230 of 317 faceoffs won for 73 percent win rate
Sebastian River senior midfielder Stats: 28 goals, 9 assists, 82 ground balls
Honorable Mention LOGAN BACH Jensen Beach junior defender SCOTT BECK Martin County junior attacker CHRIS BRITTON Vero Beach sophomore attacker DYLAN CARABIA Vero Beach senior defender
JOEY ESTEVEZ Martin County junior midfielder BRENDAN HALLERAN John Carroll freshman midfielder KEVIN HECKMAN Vero Beach junior midfielder HUGH HERLIN The Pine School junior long-stick midfielder/ defender
CHARLES KOST Sebastian River senior defender TYLER MARTIN Vero Beach junior attacker/midfielder MAX MORAN South Fork junior attacker KEVIN MURPHY St. Edward’s sophomore goalie
ETHAN ROMERO The Pine School sophomore midfielder RYAN RUPP Jensen Beach senior midfielder AUSTIN STRAZZULLA St. Edward’s sophomore midfielder JARED WELSH Jensen Beach junior attacker