St. Edward's fights off Bolles to advance to 1A boys lacrosse championship game

Grit is the word that has been coined the most by St. Edward's boys lacrosse coach Doug Bailey to describe a team that has endured the toughest week of their lives.

Mourning the loss of a beloved member of their athletic program, finding the strength to mentally and physically get past Lake Highland Prep in a regional three days earlier, Friday's 1A state semifinal against Jacksonville Bolles figured to be another challenge hard to overcome.

The Pirates again found a way as a game that featured multiple swings of momentum went in favor of St. Edward's, which overcame a three-goal deficit with a fourth-quarter surge in a 15-13 win to earn the chance to play for the 1A state championship.

"This team just does not panic at all, you would think getting behind by three would be a big deal going into the end of the third quarter, but the resolve and perseverance they showed to make things change for themselves, they make me so proud," Bailey said.

Ricky Savage led St. Edward's with six goals.

Next up is Boca Raton St. Andrew's, the No. 1 team in the country according to MaxPreps, Saturday at 2 p.m. The Scots dispatched Fort Myers Canterbury 11-1 in Friday's other semifinal.

On April 30, the same day they were supposed to try and secure the program's first Final Four trip, St. Edward's had to postpone its game after the death of Bidensky, "BT" Termidor in a drowning accident on campus as part of a senior celebration for the graduating class of 2021 that took place that afternoon.

After being allowed to reschedule their game with the help of the FHSAA and Lake Highland Prep, the Pirates prevailed with an overtime goal from sophomore Ricky Savage to win 12-11, setting up Friday's state semifinal.

Just like their game against Lake Highland Prep, the Pirates (16-4) came out firing to grab a 5-2 lead midway through the first quarter. But Bolles fought back to close the gap to 6-4 in a high-scoring first 12 minutes.

The Bulldogs (15-4) finished the first half with a flurry as two quick goals by Jack Mulvey sent the two teams deadlocked at eight at halftime.

After the Bulldogs opened a three-goal lead in the third quarter, the Pirates mounted a comeback that saw them score six goals in a row to give them the cushion they needed as Bolles scored two straight to make it 14-13. But an important goal by Danny Richmond with less than three minutes to go was enough as St. Edward's defense locked it down the rest of the way.

Bailey credited his team for turning up the intensity in every facet of the game from faceoff controls to ground balls as maintaining more of the possession in the final quarter and a half gave them the chances on offense they cashed in on.

"Once we gained the possession battle, took care of the ball and shared it a bit better, we had more success and were able to turn the tide," Bailey said. "We have lots of players that can help out in certain situations and tailor what we do against other teams and we got back to that when we needed to."