LACROSSE

Prep lacrosse: Barron Collier boys fall to Benjamin again in state quarterfinals

Pat Lammer
Special to the Daily News
Barron Collier High School

JUPITER -- That elusive berth in the FHSAA state final four.

Barron Collier just can't seem to get over the hump.

For the fifth consecutive season, the Cougars were knocked out of the boys lacrosse playoffs in the Elite Eight. Ninth-ranked Barron Collier stayed with No. 7 Benjamin for a half Friday night before falling 10-4 at Jupiter High School. The game was tied at the 3-3 at halftime.

It marks the second consecutive season Benjamin has eliminated the Cougars in the quarterfinals.

Prep lacrosse: Barron Collier teams out for revenge in state quarterfinals

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"Kids fought hard," Barron Collier coach John Sivillo said. "Benjamin fought hard. Sticking to our game plan worked for most of the game. They just got the better of us."

With the victory, Benjamin (17-3) advances to take on St. Thomas Aquinas, which beat Miami-Gulliver Prep 15-5, in next weekend's state semifinals. The loss ends Barron Collier's season at 19-2.

"(After it was 3-3 at the half) we realized we had to get the ball ahead and get to the back side a little bit," Benjamin coach Shane Rye said. "We were trying to be too quick, too fancy, too pretty, too soon.

"You have to get people to move," Rye added. "You have to get people to think, and I think that was the biggest thing we ended up doing in the second half."

Seniors Blake Erdmann and Christian Cropp combined for seven of Benjamin's 10 goals. Erdmann had four goals -- three in the second half -- and Cropp, a Yale signee, added three more.

The contest was tied 3-3 after two periods. Cropp then put Benjamin ahead for good 4-3 early in the third. It was the first of four consecutive goals for the Bucs.

Griffin Bowie made it 5-3 before Erdmann added two more goals to give the Bucs a 7-3 advantage heading to the final period.

"The third was their quarter," Sivillo said. "We stuck to our game plan and it didn't work. It's OK. Sometimes that happens. They pushed themselves hard."

Prep lacrosse: Barron Collier boys survive in second-round play-in game

Barron Collier got within 7-4 in the fourth on a goal from Furman recruit Pat Mahoney, but Benjamin finished off the scoring with the final three goals.

Benjamin made it to the state's final four a season ago before falling to St. Thomas Aquinas in three overtimes. In 2014, Benjamin lost to Lake Highland Prep in the state championship match. The Bucs' only three losses this season are to IMG Academy, Boca Raton-St. Andrew's and Orlando-Bishop Moore.

Erdmann notched the first goal of the game at the 8:35 mark of the first period. Benjamin went up 2-0 on a goal from senior midfielder Peter Reed.

But Barron Collier rallied. The Cougars drew even and then took their first lead at 3-2 on three consecutive goals. Tad DeMallie notched  the Cougars' first goal before tallies from Jayson Andino and Jake Scuderi. Scuderi's goal was the first of the second period.

"We played well at first -- we came out firing," Scuderi said. "They were just getting more possessions than us (second half.])They were capitalizing."

Cropp tied it 3-3 late in the the second period.

Prep lacrosse

State tournament pairings

Play-in games

First round

BOYS

Thursday, April 13

Barron Collier 14, Gulf Coast 6

GIRLS

Wednesday, April 12

Barron Collier 15, Gulf Coast 4

Second round

Tuesday, April 18

BOYS

Barron Collier 9, Sarasota-Riverview 8

GIRLS

Barron Collier 15, Bradenton-St. Stephen's 5

Third round

Friday, April 21

BOYS

Palm Beach Gardens-Benjamin 10, Barron Collier 4

GIRLS

Barron Collier 9, Vero Beach 7

State finals

at Jupiter High School

Friday, April 28

GIRLS

Barron Collier vs. St. Thomas Aquinas, noon