Coral Shores baseball is not the only team with an impressive win streak this season. The Hurricane lacrosse team has won its last five games, giving them a slightly easier path in district bracketing as the postseason begins.
Last week, the team added three of those wins, first against Miami Country Day on April 1 in an 8-5 triumph over the Spartans. Yandel Chaguaseda scored three goals and assisted on another to lead the scoring. Zane Martinez and Reed Tutor found the goal twice each and Finn McDonough scored one and assisted on two more. McDonough also picked up 11 ground balls for the ’Canes. Jace Jackson won 15 of his 16 faceoffs and scooped up seven ground balls of his own. Brock Bynum registered 11 saves in goal.
Two days later it was Christian Gonzalez with the high score, with two goals netted. McDonough, Tudor and James Mitchell accounted for the other three and Bynum had another 19 saves in a 5-3 win over Miami Palmetto. The following night, Bynum recorded a rare lacrosse shutout against Keys Gate. A dozen Hurricanes scored against the Knights in a lopsided 18-0 win. Mitchell and Tudor each recorded hat tricks and Drake Prosek and Rory Ferger scored two apiece to bring the team to an 11-5 regular season finish.
Key West finished 8-6 after defeating Miami Country Day 17-11. The win likely boosted the Conchs just enough for them to earn a coveted home field playoff game in the district quarterfinals this week.
Coral Shores will play Florida Christian in the FHSAA 1 District 16 quarterfinals on Thursday, April 10 at 4 p.m. The ’Canes come into the tournament ranked No. 3 while Florida Christian is sixth in the standings. In their last meetup, the Hurricanes prevailed over the Patriots, but the game was forced into overtime before a victor could emerge. Should the Hurricanes beat the Patriots, their most likely opponent in the semis would be Ransom Everglades, another team the Hurricanes narrowly defeated in the regular season. The top-ranked team in the district is a formidable Gulliver Prep, a high-scoring crew that remains untested against Keys teams this season.
