Sports
Tampa Catholic Headed for State Playoffs
The Tampa Catholic girls lacrosse team won the regional final on Friday night giving them a birth in the state playoffs next week.
Tim McGroff's wolfpack is eating opponents alive.
To the Tampa Catholic High School girls lacrosse team, "Wolfpack" is more than just a designed defensive play that McGroff can be heard screaming on the sidelines during the game, it's a mentality that the Lady Crusaders bring to the field.
"When the other team gets the ball it's an organized play I call out for that indicates the type of defense I want them to play," McGroff said. "It's not just the work aspect though anymore, it's kind of fun for the girls to approach the game with a pack mentality."
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On Friday night, McGroff's wolfpack advanced to the state playoffs for the first time in his six year tenure as coach. They did it with a well rounded performance in which they toppled Sarasota's Out-of Door Academy by a score of 15-9.
"We played better defense in that second half," McGroff said. "Tonight we were a bit more consistent throughout the game than we were in our last game. I thought we could have played a little bit better but we won, that's all that matters."
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Bernadette Leone led the Crusaders in scoring with six goals on the evening. She is the Crusaders leading offensive player this season with 45 goals and 27 assists. She repeatedly found goals by approaching from the backside of the opposing keeper in this one, something McGroff needed to neutralize the opposition's best player.
After twisting her ankle in the final seconds of the game Leone had to be carried off by the training staff, but the injury is not expected to be bad enough to keep her out of next week's game.
"We were trying to go away from their best player so we sent several players in one direction and rolled Leone around the goal," McGroff said. She's our best goal scorer so we just wanted to give her chances."
Goalkeeper Sarah Castillo was vital in the crusaders maintaining a lead as her 12 saves kept the Surging Thunder at bay.
"She (Castillo) had a busy night," McGroff said. "She made a lot of saves which helped us stay ahead. She was huge in goal so I gave her the MVP award tonight."
The Crusaders will now move on to the state playoffs in Boca Raton. Their first match of that round will be next Friday at 4:45 p.m. at a location to be named later.