1 – Cardinal Mooney
While Cardinal Mooney fell in the 2017 District 17 championship in overtime to rival Riverview, Tampa Lax Report believes 2018 will have the Cougars back on top. Cardinal Mooney is always tough and well coached – their 10-7 record last season shows as much. Their losses were to teams such as IMG, Jesuit, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Barron Collier. They keep nearly their whole team from last season and will be tough to beat. The Cougars have a tough game right out of the gate as they travel to Plant on February 20. Other games to watch include February 28 against district rival Riverview and April 11 against Jesuit.
2 – Riverview
Riverview took the district in 2017, surprising Cardinal Mooney in overtime. They also proved tough, losing only to elite teams like Jesuit, Barron Collier, Maclay, and Berkeley Prep. However, the Rams graduated two All Americans last season as well as a handful of seniors. This will leave a few holes that will need to be filled if they want to continue to go toe-to-toe with Mooney. We’ve already mentioned the clash against Cardinal Mooney on February 28, but other big games are on March 6 vs Barron Collier and March 16 against Jesuit.
3 – Out-of-Door
There is definitely a talent dropoff from 1 & 2 to the rest of 17. Filling the third seed should be Out-of-Door Academy. They finished 7-7 last season, but saw 6 seniors graduate in 2017. ODA lost all 3 matchups against Riverview in 2017, but only fell by a single goal in their last meeting. For parity to start to emerge in District 17, teams like ODA will need to start getting wins against historically stronger teams like Riverview and Mooney. Their second game of the season is huge as they face Riverview on February 23. Additional impact games come on March 21 vs St. Stephen’s and March 23 vs Caterbury.
4 – St. Stephen’s Episcopal
The fourth seed in District 17 will be St. Stephen’s Episcopal. In 2017, the Falcons finished 5-11, with only a single win coming against a team with a winning record. They played ODA and Riverview twice each without taking a win. While the team struggles against some tough competition, they continue to battle. The Falcons have important games against Sarasota Military Academy on Feburary 23 and Out-of-Door Academy on March 21.
