By Jack DaSilva
Oak Hall High School has two very strong lacrosse programs and one of them is headed to the postseason.
The Lady Eagles (11-7) won their sixth straight district title with a 14-1 win over Buchholz High School in last Thursday’s District 3 championship.
“This is probably one of the toughest schedules that Oak Hall women’s lacrosse has faced,” said interim head coach Deanna Majeski, who took over for Zach Tamburello late in the fall.
With another district title under its belt this lacrosse team is back in the state playoffs as they prepare to take on Gulf Breeze in an FHSAA Play-In Game. We’ll have ‘live’ and ‘archived’ audio of the game online.
Coach Majeski is no stranger to the pressure of single-elimination because she previously coached in South Carolina and went straight into regionals where you needed to win every game to advance.
One of the main reasons Oak Hall has had so much success this season is because of the return of Caroline Caputo, who is one of four seniors on the team. However. Caputo, an all-area goalie, has been injured and replaced by Allie St. Pierre, who has done a remarkable job in place of the senior goalie.
Caputo has been out since spring break but has already made her return this week and hopes to play tonight against Gulf Breeze, although St. Pierre will start.
“I’m very happy to be back and be able to support my team again and be out on the field one last time”, said Caputo, who has signed with Villanova.
Junior Mason Young added, “I think a major key has been us coming together as a team and really running our system and doing what we’re good at and focusing on those things rather than try and force something that we’re not.”
The Lady Eagles have definitely found what they’re good at but they’ll have to channel the success they had earlier in the season if they’re hoping to go far in the state playoffs. Oak Hall has lost three of the last five games against a tough schedule but brushed that off to win their sixth district title in a row and will take on the 12-2-1 Gulf Breeze Dolphins tonight at home.
The Lady Dolphins are a scoring machine and have won their last four games by a total score of 93-1.
If Caroline Caputo can suit up for Oak Hall they’ll have a much better chance in containing Gulf Breeze and advancing in the state playoffs.
