As the St. Thomas Aquinas (Fla.) boys’ lacrosse team closed in on its second consecutive Florida High School Athletic Association state championship, Kevin Crowley knew something special was ending.

Kevin Crowley, who was a key part of both those title runs, was playing for the last time with classmates who had surrounded him for years. He also was playing for the last time for his father, coach Terry Crowley.

The younger Crowley made the most of it, totaling six goals and three assists in the state semifinals and finals. The final goal of his high school career came with 5:56 left in the title game. Kevin Crowley scored to give STA a 10-7 lead over Lake Highland Prep (Fla.), the first of three Raider goals that stopped a Lake Highland rally and secured the title to cap a 21-1 season as the top-ranked team in the South for a second straight year.

Kevin Crowley finished the year with 67 goals and 34 assists and a pocket full of awards. He now adds another one as the Epoch/US Lacrosse South Region Player of the Year for a second straight season.

Nike/US Lacrosse High School Rankings

National Boys' Top 25 | National Girls' Top 25
Northeast Boys' Top 10 | Northeast Girls' Top 10
Mid-Atlantic Boys' Top 10 | Mid-Atlantic Girls' Top 10
South Boys' Top 10 | South Girls' Top 10
Midwest Boys' Top 10 | Midwest Girls' Top 10
West Boys' Top 10 | West Girls' Top 10

“More than anything, I’m going to remember this senior class,” he said. “We were really closely knit. We all played together a really long time, especially me and Jimmy Harrington and Joey Guglielmo. We always talked about the state championship and fortunately we worked hard enough to put ourselves in position to win and capitalized on it. I will definitely hold the memories close of us going out like that.”

Kevin Crowley will play college lacrosse at Hofstra next year, leaving high school, warm and sunny Florida, and his lifelong coach behind.

“Those last couple of games, when you realize you’re only going to do this a couple times … it’s something I will hold close to my heart, the memories, the fact that I got to help him win his first state championship and then his second,” Kevin Crowley said. “He’s basically been my coach ever since I was born. There’s no better way to go out.”

Kevin Crowley was the target of every defense St. Thomas Aquinas faced this year. But he benefitted from a team full of talent, including Harrington, who played attack with Kevin Crowley.

Harrington owned the crease while Crowley, recruited as a midfielder, was on the edge.

“I think that we were lucky enough to force other teams to pick their poison,” Terry Crowley said. “We knew if they went to Kevin, Jimmy would be open. If they locked both down, they’d have problems on top. … They can’t cover us all, but Kevin did get the brunt.”

Despite the increased defensive pressure, his 101 points marked a career best. He had 88 as a junior.

“What makes him so effective is his vision; he sees the whole field, his toughness, his ability to go inside time and time again, knowing he’s going to get hit,” Terry Crowley said. “He does what he does really well.”

Kevin Crowley, a two-time Florida Dairy Farmers Florida Player of the Year winner, was also the South Region Player of the Year last spring, but faced different challenges this season.

“Last year, a lot of the attention was off me because we had Lou [Yovino], who was one of the best players I ever played with,” Kevin Crowley said. “This year, we didn’t, and I guess a lot of teams scouted us, saw how I played and tried to counter it. It was harder this year, with the matchups I faced and the team faced. Thankfully, I had a lot of good teammates and that’s why we ended up winning it again.”

His father said simply, “Kevin was our Lou this year.”

This spring, Kevin Crowley was most focused on team goals. He said that winning the state championships as seniors was as important as getting the school’s first title in their junior year.

“This year was mainly about the seniors leaving our legacy,” he said. “Last year we did it, but that was the Class of 2016’s championship. We wanted to show we were happy with that one, but that we wanted to work and get our own.

“We worked really hard. We knew everyone was gunning for us. We didn’t want to let up and, ‘Oh yeah, we already won one.’ We really wanted to win it again.”

EPOCH/US LACROSSE SOUTH REGION PLAYER OF THE YEAR

KEVIN CROWLEY
School: St. Thomas Aquinas (Fla.)
Year: Senior
Position: Attackman
Stats: 67 goals, 34 assists
Coach Terry Crowley: “It has been fun overall [coaching my son]. For the last six years, I’ve had one of my two sons and in 2015 had them both. It’s fun, it’s also difficult because you are tougher on him than anyone else and you expect more.”
Also notable: Sheldon Brown, Paul Lawrence Dunbar (Ky.); Owen Caputo, Middle Creek (N.C.); Cade Klawinski, Memphis University School (Tenn.); Nolan Moon, Lassiter (Ga.); Luke Millican, Dallas Jesuit (Texas); Nakeie Montgomery, Episcopal School of Dallas (Texas); Nicky Solomon, Centennial (GA); Carson Sorrells, Allatoona (Ga.).

NIKE/US LACROSSE SOUTH REGION TOP 10 (FINAL)

1. St. Thomas Aquinas (Fla.), 21-1                                    

The Raiders claimed their second consecutive state championship with a 12-7 win over Lake Highland Prep (Fla.). They have not lost to a Florida team since May of 2015, and their lone loss this season was at Massapequa (N.Y.) during the team’s first trip to Long Island. Graduation will hit STA hard, though, with the loss of All-American attackmen Kevin Crowley and Jimmy Harrington and All-American midfielder Joey Guglielmo. 

2. Dallas Jesuit (Texas), 15-5

The Rangers ended the season with their second consecutive THSLL state championship after securing a 9-8 win over Episcopal School of Dallas (Texas) in the final. They are the first repeat THSLL champion since 2010. Along the way, Dallas Jesuit dropped regular-season games to the other top teams in Texas, The Woodlands, Highland Park and ESD, the latter two it avenged in the state final four. The other two losses were to national No. 5 St. Ignatius Prep (Calif.) and then-ranked Gonzaga (D.C.). The Rangers will lose All-American goalie Luke Millican, who went 12-3 and had 145 saves, but return All-American David Sprock (35 goals, 16 assists).

3. Lassiter (Ga.), 17-4

The Trojans beat Lambert (Ga.) 10-5 to win their first GHSA 6A/7A state championship since 2006, ending Lambert’s in-state win streak at 39 games and avenging last year’s title game loss. It was a great run through the playoffs. Lassiter dropped back-to-back games to Pope (Ga.) and Greater Atlanta Christian (Ga.) in mid-April and then won seven straight to march to the title, beginning with a win over Memphis University School (Tenn.). Lassiter will have to replace Nolan Moon, who led the team with 40 goals and 18 assists despite missing several games with an injury.

4.  Lambert (Ga.), 20-2

The Longhorns fell just short of defending their 2016 GHSA 6A/7A state championship, losing in the title game to Lassiter.  Their only other loss of the year was against national No. 7 Calvert Hall (Md.), the MIAA-A champion. Lambert’s season was highlighted by a big win over Cardinal Gibbons (N.C.), as the Longhorns handled with ease virtually every Georgia opponent they faced.

5. Middle Creek (N.C.), 22-0

The Mustangs finished off a perfect season to claim their first state title, beating Lake Norman 17-8 to win the NCHSAA 4A championship. Two of the top scorers from a balanced attack will return in All-American Owen Caputo (69 goals, 57 assists) and Jake Caputo (51 goals, 19 assists). Caleb Patrick (51 goals, 13 assists) and Jared Medwar (50 goals, 36 assists) graduate. Graham Schwartz, Anthony King, and Thomas Wilson are other top players set to return.

6. Episcopal School of Dallas (Texas), 18-1

The Eagles were unbeaten when they advanced to the THSLL title game, but fell short of the title when Dallas Jesuit rallied for a 9-8 win. ESD had beaten Jesuit 7-5 earlier in the season. The Eagles graduate three-time All-American Nakeie Montgomery, who finished the season with 44 goals and 39 assists and ended his career with 317 points (200 goals, 117 assists) to set the Texas state record for midfielders.

7. The Woodlands (Texas), 23-2

The Highlanders, who were seeded No. 1 in the THSLL final four, lost to Episcopal Dallas in the state semifinals, then officially closed the season a couple weeks later with a loss to Georgetown Prep (Md.) in the Geico High School Lacrosse Nationals. The Woodlands won four games on a trip to California and later beat Palo Verde (Nev.), and the regular-season also included impressive in-state wins over Dallas Jesuit and Highland Park. Ramsey McCreary, one of their top players, will return to lead the Highlanders next year.

8. Weddington (N.C.), 19-1

The Warriors beat Cedar Ridge 21-6 to win their first NCHSAA 1A/2A/3A state championship, and their lone loss was to Lake Norman, which advanced to the 4A state title game. Leading scorers Cole Dinwiddie (68 goals) and Hunter Fasanaro (47 goals, 45 assists) graduate, but  several top players return including Austin Leonard (43 goals, 16 assists) and Whitner Litton (144 groundballs, 69.3 percent faceoff wins) and goalie Bryce Cheek (85 saves).

9. Memphis University School (Tenn.), 16-3

The Owls won their second consecutive TSLA state title when they beat McCallie School 9-8 in double overtime. Two of their losses came early in the year to Norfolk Academy (Va.) and highly-regarded Hill Academy out of Canada. They also lost to Lassiter. Although Cade Klawinski, who led the team with 94 points, will graduate, the Owls return leading scorer Benjamin Dimento (54 goals), who was just a freshman, along with Rucker Wilkinson (39 goals, 23 assists).

10. Ponte Vedra (Fla.), 19-2

The Sharks’ promising season ended in an upset in the second round of the Florida state play-in games. Their only other loss was to Jupiter (Fla.). Ponte Vedra will lose nine seniors, including several top players in Reid Smith (77 goals, 26 assists), Clay Welch (71 goals), Matt Keeler (45 goals, 35 assists) and Andrew O’Dare. C.D. James and Jack Burke (42 goals) are among the top returning players.