- September 11, 2024
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The Olympia Titans girls lacrosse team’s season ended in the FHSAA state semifinals for a second consecutive season May 1 with a 20-13 loss to Ponte Vedra at IMG Academy in Bradenton.
The loss also marked the second consecutive season that the Titans had their season ended by Ponte Vedra — which for a second consecutive season fell to Vero Beach in the FHSAA girls lacrosse state championship match.
After falling behind in the game’s early minutes, Olympia (19-3) went into the half trailing the Sharks, 11-5. Where the first half was decidedly in favor of Ponte Vedra, the second half was much more evenly matched, with the Sharks holding just a 9-8 edge over the Titans — who cut the lead to 14-10 before Ponte Vedra (19-4) pulled away.
“We did end up making it a three- or four-goal game toward the middle of the second half, and we absolutely were on a run that we could have come back from,” head coach Elyse DeLisle said. “But we let the game get away from us, and it was really hard to recover.”
Senior Emily Headley, who overcame flu-like symptoms just to get on the playing field in Bradenton, led Olympia with a game-high six goals and two assists.
Despite the disappointment of coming up a game short of the state championship match, the back-to-back trips to the final four reveal a program that is on the up-and-up as one of the state’s elite.
“It means a lot that we went back for a second time, but pushing it to the next level is going to be huge for the program,” DeLisle said. “Making it an expectation that we make it to the state final and that it is a goal to win the state final.”
Headley, a Clemson University signee for track and cross-country, is one of just five seniors on the Titans’ 19-person roster. Key contributors from this year’s squad, such as attacker Ashley Matthews (junior), midfielder Finley Cassidy (freshman) and goalkeeper Tatiana Barnes (sophomore), are all underclassmen who will be returning for DeLisle’s second season at the helm.
“Our senior class is going to have a lot of experience next year,” DeLisle said. “We have freshmen and sophomores who were on the field this year playing, which is going to bring back a lot of maturity some other teams don’t see, and that is definitely going to work to our advantage.”
The program’s other seniors, who were a part of its rise over their prep careers, were Paula Parlade, Morgan Mikula, Elizabeth Keck and Ashley Aken.
Ashley Aken, Tatiana Barnes, Kirra Byerl, Finley Cassidy, Erin Collier, Katie Collier, Hannah Fidelo, Natalie France, Kim Goic, Emily Headley, Elizabeth Keck, Jenna Kuka, Ashley Matthews, Brittney Matthews, Morgan Mikula, Paula Parlade, Riley Reagan, Brianna Stokes, Casey Zimmerman
Head coach: Elyse DeLisle
Assistants: Chip Carbiener and Terri Carbiener
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Contact Steven Ryzewski at [email protected].
