Two area lacrosse teams remain standing in the state playoffs.
The Bartram Trail girls hung on at the finish to edge Tampa Steinbrenner 5-4 in the Class 2A state semifinals on Friday night in Naples.
Recommended Videos
The win sends the Bears (21-3) into Saturday’s state championship game against Vero Beach at 5 p.m.
It’s a rematch of last year’s state semifinal won by Vero when the Bears lost star attacker Ryann Frechette two days before the matchup.
The Indians edged reigning state champion St. Thomas Aquinas 7-6 in the other semi.
It’s a national showdown, too. Vero is ranked No. 4 in the country and Bartram No. 5 by MaxPreps.
Also on Saturday, the Ponte Vedra boys face St. Thomas Aquinas at 7:30 p.m. for the Class 2A state championship. The Sharks and Bartram are the only two area teams to play for and win a state title.
Ponte Vedra beat Winter Park 13-11 on Thursday night.
Bartram scored all five of its goals in the opening half and fended off three second-half goals of the Warriors (21-2) to set up a showdown against
Episcopal’s best season ever ended in the Class 1A state semifinals with a 14-4 loss to Lake Highland Prep on Friday afternoon in Naples.
The Eagles fell into an 8-1 deficit at halftime and never caught back up to the Highlanders. Episcopal, the No. 2-ranked team in the News4JAX Super 6 the entire season, turned in the best season in program history under coach Krista Grabher.
Episcopal ended its season at 19-4 and its first state semifinal appearance.