2 major records have fallen during the 2023 varsity lacrosse season in Florida with NSU University School's Ethan Schlam setting Florida's single season goals record and Palmetto Ridge's Brayden Brown setting the national record for saves in a single game.
Senior Ethan Schlam caps off a brilliant high school career at NSU University School in 2023 by breaking the Florida state record for goals in a high school season with 112. He tops Western's Michael Fox who scored 111 goals in 2018. The Sharks season ended abruptly on April 13 when severe storms early in the 3rd quarter stopped the District Championship against Belen Jesuit, and then the decision was made to not play the rest of the game and award the Wolverines a 9-7 victory. Schlam had already scored once in the shortened game and it ended up being just enough for him to secure the record.
The storm made national news for closing down the Ft. Lauderdale Airport which resembled a lake instead of an airfield. Reflecting earlier this week on how it all ended Ethan stated "It feels great to have the record after all of the hard work and countless hours, but I would 100% trade it in to finish at districts and go to war with my seniors one last time".
Tough way to end your season especially considering U-School already came back to beat Belen Jesuit on March 1 in a wild 15-13 game that saw both teams go back and forth for much of the 2nd half. Ethan had accumulated 7 goals on that night. Sharks Head Coach Mario Ventiquattro was extremely disappointed in how his teams season ended, but was proud of his Attackman for his record setting achievement commenting "Schlammy has put in the work over the years and to see him excel to this level in his senior season has been very gratifying". Ventiquattro pulls his starters in the 2nd half of blowouts so there were quite a few games this season where Ethan had to get his goals in the first 24 minutes before watching the 2nd and 3rd lines finish things off. While there were a few blowouts this season that Ethan feasted on, U-School also competes in the Palm League which boasts teams like Saint Andrews School, The Benjamin School, Oxbridge Academy, Pine Crest School, and Gulliver Preparatory School. He didn't back down in those Palm League games, enjoying 9, 6 and 5 goal games against Gulliver, Benjamin and Pine Crest respectively. The only struggles he saw all season was versus 2-time defending state champion Saint Andrews who held him to 1 goal during an early season matchup. Of course, he only scored once in the storm shortened District Championship and had lots of time left for more, but Schlam put it perfectly saying "We can't control that and can only do what is in our power". DSLR is thrilled a kid with that kind of attitude was able to make it to the top before the lightning, rain and wind ended it all.
Ethan is committed to attend Haverford College this fall where he intends to make his mark on the lacrosse team. We expect that Schlam will do well for himself in the Centennial Conference and if he needs any incentive, Chris Anderson is the single season goals leader for the Fords having scored 65 goals in 2001.
As first reported by Mike Loveday at LaxNumbers, Brayden Brown recorded 57 saves in
a 7-overtime game against Taravella on March 31 earning Palmetto Ridge the 4-3 victory and Brown the national saves in a single game record. His performance breaks the nearly 40 year old national high school record surpassing Mike Holtby of Auburn (NY) who made 54 saves in a losing effort to West Genesee back in 1985. The 7 overtime game is also believed to be a Florida state record. “When I was saving all the shots in overtime, I knew we had that game,” Brown said. “When the ball came to my end, I knew they depended on me. I was really hoping the offense would go score for me so I wouldn’t have to face that many shots.” Brown faced 60 shots including 22 during overtime. "Our middies are still in the mindset that they're only offensive, so it's been hard to get them on defense" added Bears coach Justin Feingold. This has allowed Brayden to square up against a lot of shots, in fact 327 in total this season which includes a 41 save performance against Estero, 35 vs. Naples and another 27 when they played Riverdale.
Brown is interested in playing lacrosse in college and has certainly made a splash as a freshman in high school. Hopefully he can reel in those middies next year, either way he's certainly up for the task if they continue to give up so many transition opportunities.
Article written by Larry Palumbo, released on Sunday, April 30, 2023 @ 20:00 EST
Photos courtesy of www.CoyoteMagicActionShots.com
All rights reserved, 2023 copyright by Deep South Lax Recruits
Comments