The top seed Oak Hall Eagles boys lacrosse team eliminated visiting Eastside, 23-0, in the quarterfinal of the 1A-District 3 Tournament on April 10.
Oak Hall (14-3) entered the tourney as the top seed, while the Rams (0-9) were seeded eighth.
Fierce First Half
The first few minutes of the match started strong on both ends, but the Rams quickly fell behind in the first quarter, 7-0.
The Rams kept great morale, but zero shots were being made at goal and the pressure from the Eagles defense was dominating.
Eagles coach Jonathan Montes said he wanted to highlight his “eighth-graders, freshmen and sophomores [who] played the majority of this game.”
The first half ended with Oak Hall leading 15-0.
2nd Quarter Update:
The Eagles continued to widen the gap on their lead by 8 goals
Score: Eagles 15-0 Rams #OakHallHighSchool #EastsideHighSchool#BoysLacrosse#ESPNGainesville pic.twitter.com/5ky7wTnrXi
— Marthina (@marthinam22) April 10, 2024
Eagles Soar Through Second Half
On the first whistle of the second half, the energy was noticeably different. The Rams had fallen behind by a significant amount of points and their defense struggled to lock down their half.
Tensions rose and foul plays were made by the Rams. Despite this, the Eagles stayed composed and skillful.
“Young guys like Colton Keller, (Kevin) Bendekovic and (Dominic) Moreschi … you love to see those guys make plays,” Montes said.
Eagles Victory
Oak Hall scored eight more goals in the second half to settle the match.
4th Quarter and Final Update:
The Oak Hall Eagles completely dominated the game, scoring 23 goals and allowing no shots on goal from the Eastside Rams
Score: 23-0 #OakHallHighSchool #EastsideHighSchool#BoysLacrosse#ESPNGainesville pic.twitter.com/vc9vGQWiP0
— Marthina (@marthinam22) April 10, 2024
Montes said the Eagles are “confident in what we have and in our program … and our level of play.”
Up Next
The Eagles defeated four seed Santa Fe (9-8) in the tourney semifinals April 12 to set up the title match Wednesday against Ocala Trinity Catholic (13-4). The Celtics advanced by defeating St. Joseph Academy 14-5 and Menendez 8-5.