Week 4
- Berkeley (9-1) – The Buccaneers had an outstanding week, beating LaxNumbers #60 (Tampa Catholic), #42 (Calvary Christian), and #19 (Montverde) this week by a combined goal differential of 49-14. Berkeley now sits at #8 in Florida. They seem to be hitting their stride just as games may be either paused or cancelled.
- Cardinal Mooney (4-4) – The Cougars only had one game last week – a 9-7 win over Lakewood Ranch on the road. Their game against Jupiter scheduled for last Friday was cancelled. That may be the way things go for a while around here.
- Jesuit (4-3) – Jesuit rolled in week 4 with running clocks in both of their matchups (Carrollwood Day School and Wesley Chapel). Games scheduled for the 13th and 18th have both been officially cancelled. We hope they get their March 31st game in against Canterbury as we feel that would be a great matchup.
- Canterbury (3-3) – Add another win for Canterbury in week 4. There are some great games on their schedule soon – if they can be played.
- St. Stephen’s Episcopal (5-0) – It’s great to see the Falcons doing so well. Their game scheduled for March 13th against Northside Christian would’ve been a good matchup, but we can’t even find it listed on MaxPreps anymore.
Week 3
- Berkeley (6-1) – The Buccaneers have had a couple very nice wins lately versus Canterbury and Jesuit, but ended the week – after a nearly 3 hour bus ride – with a loss to #4 in the state, Bishop Moore on Saturday. The Bucs lead by 1 at halftime, but surrendered to a very talented team. We decided to move them up to #2 after their win against Jesuit, but Mooney’s loss and rough start to the season caused us to drop the Cougars as well.
- Cardinal Mooney (3-4) – We told everyone to show up to the Mooney vs Plant game in South Tampa! What a game! Plant took the exciting game by 1 and shocked some folks. We began pre-season by saying that this year’s Mooney squad wasn’t quite as good as 2019. This loss maybe shows that. But they are still one of the best teams here. They aren’t done in 2020. Not by a long shot.
- Jesuit (2-3) – Single goal losses to #2 Mooney and #1 Berkeley in back-to-back games is a tough pill to swallow for the Tigers. They are extremely good this year and will certainly get another crack at Berkeley in districts. But like Mooney, anyone counting Jesuit out will be sorely mistaken.
- Canterbury (2-3) – Canterbury will likely be on cruise control until March 24 when they host Potomac School from Virginia then follow that up by hosting Oxbridge.
- St. Stephen’s Episcopal (2-1) – Welcome to the Top 5, Falcons! SSES earned this spot with a huge win over longtime rival Out-of-Door Academy (our former #5). St. Stephen’s will have their hands full come March 10 as they travel to our #1 Berkeley Prep.
Week 2
- Cardinal Mooney (2-3) – Mooney began with one of the hardest schedules in the area. They’ve already played IMG, Jesuit (FL #15), Creekside (FL #3), and Ponte Vedra (FL #1). They’ve beat both Canterbury and Jesuit. We began our pre-season poll by saying this year’s team wasn’t quite as good as the 2019 squad, but were still better than anyone else in the area. We still don’t think we were wrong. The Cougars visit Tampa with their game against Plant on 3/5. If you can make it, you should.
- Jesuit (1-2) – The Tigers lost by a single goal against TLR #1 Cardinal Mooney. No one that attended called it a boring game. Jesuit’s game on 3/3 against district rival Berkeley Prep is a must-see for 2020. It will likely determine the top seed in 1A/9. The space between #1, #2, and #3 is pretty thin at this point!
- Berkeley (4-0) – We said to watch their Canterbury game closely. That makes 2 back-to-back 1-goal games for these two teams with Berkeley taking the latest one 6-5 on the road. The Buccaneers faceoff against district rival Jesuit on 3/3. TLR will definitely be there and so should you.
- Canterbury (1-3) – Canterbury are another team (like Mooney) that scheduled very tough games early. They suffered a loss to TLR #3 Berkeley on Saturday, 6-5. They are a tough team and certainly deserving of a place on our Top 5 still. Things get decidedly easier for them in week 3.
- Out-of-Door (2-0) – We are still looking forward to The Thunder’s 3/3 game against Lakewood Ranch. Until then, ODA keeps a hold of the #5 spot on our list.
Week 1
- Cardinal Mooney (1-1) – The Cougars opened with a win against Canterbury, but then followed with a loss to IMG. Hard to fault Mooney for a loss to one of the best teams in the country. We still don’t have a reason to doubt that they are the best team in the TLR area. Week 2 doesn’t get much easier as they travel to Jesuit on 2/25, then to Ponte Vedra on 2/29. We’d guess they’ll split those games, but since this is just week 2, anything is possible.
- Jesuit (1-1) – The Tigers began their season with a home game against Harrison, Georgia. That was a tight 7-6 loss. They bounced back big with a 12-8 win over a surprising Mitchell squad. Jesuit will host TLR’s #1 Cardinal Mooney on 2/25. Everyone in the area should be watching for the outcome of that game.
- Berkeley (1-0) – Berkeley traveled to Palm Harbor University Friday and cruised to a running clock early in the 2nd half. They have 3 games in week 2, but it’s the third game against Canterbury on 2/29 that TLR has their eye on. Canterbury won their matchup in 2019 by a single goal. We will be watching this game very closely.
- Canterbury (0-2) – Canterbury began the 2020 season with a 9-14 loss to Florida Lacrosse News‘s #1 Mooney, then a 4-7 loss to FLN #3 American Heritage. No one here had a tougher week scheduled. Regardless of their 0-2 start, we don’t see a reason to move them from where they are right now on our list. Keep an eye on their game against Berkeley on 2/29 to gauge them against local talent.
- Out-of-Door (1-0) – The Thunder had only one game in week 1, which was a 9-1 win against Venice. We don’t think they’ll be stressed until their 3/3 game against Lakewood Ranch.
Pre-Season
- Cardinal Mooney – The Cougars started 2019 at #1 in our poll and finished 2019 at #1. They had a deep run into the state playoffs behind one of the best squads to come out of the area maybe ever. This year’s team isn’t quite at that level, but is still stronger than anyone else here. They were packed with talent in 2019 and are still fielding strong players all over the field.
- Jesuit – Jesuit started #4 in our pre-season poll for 2019 and dominated late in the season, making it as far as Elite 8 in the state for the second year in a row. The Tigers are always strong. Always deep. And always well coached. They are never in a rebuilding year. We certainly don’t expect them to miss a step in 2020.
- Berkeley – The Buccaneers began 2019 at #5 in our pre-season polls, but regular season play moved them as high as #3 locally. They’ve graduated a couple play makers, but retain a very talented group coached by Mike Ryder in his first full year at the helm. TLR discussed whether Berkeley could be #2, but decided Jesuit would take the spot based on their outstanding performance over the last 2 years. But keep an eye on both teams in 2020.
- Canterbury – Canterbury is new to the Tampa Lax Report area, but we’ve seen a couple of their games over the past two seasons. They are fundamentally strong and always fight for every ball. We doubt they’ll get any higher in our poll in 2020, but if they get hot, may move up 1-2 spots.
- Out-of-Door – The Thunder started pre-season in 2019 at #8 and finished at #8 (that was before the 1A/2A split). We have them here because we don’t see another 1A team more worthy of this spot. ODA has been very good locally, but did graduate their two big seniors in 2019, so may take some time to find players to fill those shoes.