LAKEWOOD Ranch — Following a disappointing performance in the district championship against Gulf Coast, Venice looked to right its wrongs in its 2A regional quarterfinal matchup with Lakewood Ranch on Friday.
The Indians were confident coming in — having beaten the Mustangs in the regular season — and played like it early.
After jumping out to an early 4-2 lead, though, the Indians succumbed to Lakewood Ranch’s fiery offense, eventually losing 14-8 to the Mustangs.
“We were down some key defensive players and I think that showed some at times,” Venice head coach Dan Crane said. “I do think we played well, they just played really well on the other side. Kudos to them. They’re a well-coached team, and they played like it. I hope to see them make a deep run here the rest of the way.”
Venice (11-6) came out on fire offensively, pinning four goals past LR goalkeeper Dylan Brown within the first seven minutes of the opening quarter.
John Ptaszek, Chris Lagos and Owen Alford were all responsible for the scoring.
However, the rest of the quarter belonged to the Mustangs (14-5).
LR scored three straight goals — with two of them coming from Lucas Anthony — to grab a 5-4 advantage after a quarter of play.
Anthony stayed hot in the second quarter, adding two more goals during a 4-0 run that extended the Mustangs’ lead to 9-4 with five minutes left before halftime.
“He is patient, smart and calculated,” said Crane of Anthony, who finished with eight goals. “He’s a physical kid for his size and he really muscles guys down. His skillset is impressive.”
Venice's best scorer in John Ptaszek brought his team to within three at the half behind back-to-back goals during the final three minutes of the half.
While the Indians had some momentum to open the third, Anthony again made a play when it looked like Venice was poised to trim the deficit further.
The senior’s goal with 10:16 left in the third put the Mustangs up 10-6.
A couple of minutes later, John Ptaszek found the back of the net for the fourth time in the contest, making it a 10-7 game still early in the third.
From there, the Indians were shutdown by the Mustangs defense.
Venice goalie Alex Ptaszek had a solid showing in net during the second half, but Brown was just as good on the other side.
The senior finished with 19 total saves, allowing only two goals in the second half.
“He was really great (low) against us,” said Crane of Brown. “And unfortunately, a lot of our good looks went low. When he gets hot, he plays very well, and that was the case (Friday).”
Down 12-7 midway through the fourth, Aiden Sleigher found the top corner of the net for Venice to move to within four.
That’d be the last goal Venice would score, as LR controlled the pace during the final five minutes of play.
While the ending isn’t what Crane and his team had hoped for, it’ll be hard not to remember what the 2024 team accomplished.
“It was absolutely amazing to coach this group,” Crane said. “This was the most fun I’ve had coaching. The culture was different, and I hope to carry that on. I’m going to miss these kids. We’re losing 13 total, and it’s going to be an emotional goodbye to say the least.”
Most Popular
Comments / 0