PORT ST. LUCIE — The Vero Beach High School Fighting Indians girls’ lacrosse team proudly held the State Championship trophy overhead Saturday evening after defeating Orlando-Bishop Moore 22-6 at South County Stadium. The Fighting Indians led the Hornets 11-4 at halftime with a powerful aggressive offense and an extremely stingy defense.
Several players scored goals in the win that gives Vero Beach their 93rd consecutive victory over a Florida opponent. It’s the seventh state championship for head Coach Shannon Dean and his program.
Coach Dean said it’s an impressive accomplishment for his team.
“It’s a great feeling. It really hasn’t hit me just yet. We had a mix of seniors, juniors, sophomores, and freshman that we never had before and that team chemistry paid off.”
Six seniors on the team now have four State Championship rings and five of the six seniors will go on to play lacrosse at the collegiate level.
Senior Olivia Long will be playing lacrosse for Johns Hopkins University next season and said that the Fighting Indians were well prepared for the Hornets.
“We have been training to win the championship all year. This never gets old. It feels great to win the state title.”
Bishop Moore Coach Stacey Williams said she was proud of her team’s effort.
“It’s been a roller coaster of a season between injuries and illnesses. We’ve had to battle for every win in this playoff series. Vero is a phenomenal team and nationally ranked. We came out, we had a great start, but we just couldn’t keep up.”
After the presentation of the State Championship trophy, members of the Vero Beach team doused Coach Dean with a cooler of ice water to celebrate the victory. Dean said the class of 2012 is incredible.
“The fact that all of these seniors have all four championship rings is impressive. These girls are leaving behind a legacy.”
