The Sebastian River High varsity girls lacrosse team will shoot for a third consecutive district title this week just four seasons removed from the rebirth of the program under head coach Mike Perez.
Perez was briefly associated with the SRHS girls lacrosse team before it folded, and he was the primary impetus behind its resurrection. The program was dormant when a person truly dedicated to advancing the sport ¬– even to faraway places overseas — came to the rescue.
“The SRHS girls lacrosse program started a while ago and was probably in its fourth or fifth season when I came here in the spring on 2005,” Perez said. “My daughter was attending St. Edward’s and I was looking to coach.”
With no coaching vacancy immediately available at St. Ed’s, Perez was not to be denied in his search for a position. He looked to the north of Vero Beach and found an opportunity.
“I contact SRHS and asked if they were interested in a coach,” Perez recalled. “I was told they already had a head coach, but that he might be interested in an assistant. He was interested and that worked out really well.
“The next year the coach at St. Ed’s left and they asked me if I was still interested in coming there as a co-head coach. I was — and I did that for six years.”
Perez eventually became the actual head coach at St. Ed’s before the revolving door began to spin once again. He contacted the athletic director at SRHS and offered to restart the girls lacrosse program in the spring of 2013.
“It had been four or five seasons since they had a team and all the players from that active era had graduated,” Perez remembered. “So we decided to start back up as a JV program. We had only three experienced players (from Storm Grove Middle School) that first year with no seniors, so we played a JV schedule.”
After going varsity in 2014, the team had instant success. SRHS was added to a district covering south Brevard County with teams not that much further along in the program-building process.
“We were fortunate enough to win the district championship that first year,” Perez said. “And then we repeated again as district champions last year.
“We are the No. 1 seed this year, and the No. 2 seed, Melbourne High, is very athletic and much improved. We beat them 10-7, and it was a very competitive game. If we can get through the semis vs. Eau Gallie, we will likely be playing Melbourne High for the district championship.”
The Sharks were 10-5 going into the district tournament. The semifinals were scheduled for this past Tuesday, with the championship game on Thursday.
“Casey Arlotta has been our leading scorer and the spark to our offense in each of our three varsity seasons,” Perez told us. “At the other end of the field, Micaiah Vacchiano has been the leader of our defense. She has consistently led the team in takeaways. Midfielder Hanna Knudsen has been our leader at both ends of the field and all the grass in between. With defenders Madison Kazlauskas, Megan Karachum and midfielder Amanda Conte also graduating this year, our senior class will be sorely missed next season.”
Those six seniors will know nothing but district championships if they can help to pull off another one this week. Support will come mainly from some experienced juniors as the coach keeps the program moving forward.
“We have several returning juniors including three-year starters Gianna Arlotta on attack, Brittany Evans on defense and Sabrina Beigel in goal,” Perez said. “They will provide leadership on and off the field next year to keep us near the top of our district.
“But the real hope for the continued success of our program is the very deep and very athletic group of sophomores and freshmen that will be returning. These girls are fast, aggressive and want to play. It should be exciting to see the competition for field-time driving these girls to improve. In fact, their drive is already evident. Many of the younger players are getting to practice early and leaving late so they can get extra work with their stick stills on the new lacrosse wall that was built for the girls and boys teams.”
After the SRHS season is over, another coaching gig awaits Perez. “This will be my sixth season coaching the women on the Austrian National Lacrosse Team. Shortly after our season ends here, I head over to Vienna for what will be the first of probably four visits during the summer and fall. We are currently preparing for the 2017 World Cup in England.”
Lacrosse is both an avocation and full-time enterprise for Perez. “I’m retired professionally and all of the lacrosse stuff I do is as a volunteer. It keeps me happy and active. I enjoy it and I’m doing something where I feel like I’m contributing to the community.”
Apparently on more than one continent.