Redemption on the minds of Bartram Trail girls lacrosse team

Like many of the older players on the Bartram Trail girls lacrosse team, senior Nicki Caputo wishes she could rewrite history.

It would start early in the second half on April 17, 2009, in a game against Winter Springs. The Bears were leading 11-6 in the first second-round playoff contest held in North Florida. In front of a packed crowd, Bartram watched as its lead, and its opportunity, vanished. Winter Springs won 14-13 and put an end to the best run in program history.

Of course, Caputo and the Bears know they can't change what happened. They can, however, try to even the score.

The Bears defeated visiting Fletcher 17-10 Tuesday in a first-round play-in state playoff game to set up a matchup with Winter Springs on Friday.

Winter Springs knocked off the Bears in the first round last season and will be looking to make it three straight postseason wins against the Bears -- none more painful than the first.

"I can remember it like it was yesterday," Caputo said. "You don't forget a game like that."

It's no surprise that Bartram (12-2) will have to change history to make history. Caputo said that Bartram figured it would have to dispatch Winter Springs (17-4) at some point if it planned to do something special this season. Doing so in this round, the same that has haunted her since her sophomore season, didn't catch her off guard either.

"I've been wanting to play this team the whole season because I know we have something to prove to them," Caputo said. "If our whole team works together, with our minds together we can do anything. ... I definitely want to always play the best competition, but with this team we just want to get revenge and show who we are."

It seemed at times against Fletcher (12-2) that Bartram was looking ahead a little too early.

Bartram coach Sarah Gallion sensed that after Fletcher evened the score at 2-all. She called a timeout and brought the team to the middle of the field. After that, the Bears reeled off five straight goals and nine of the next 11 to head into halftime up 11-4. Fletcher made a couple of runs late in the second half but could only cut the lead to seven on two occasions.

"You know what, Fletcher came to play us hard, we expected that," Gallion said. "But I don't think our girls were ready from the get go, unfortunately. It took them a little while to get their minds right."

Similar to its win against Creekside, Bartram did what it needed to when it needed it most. The Bears seemed to score every time Fletcher began to gain momentum.

"They do a really nice job of making adjustments when we want to, and they know how to pull out a win," Gallion said. "I would just like to see a little more consistency."

Gallion said she doesn't think that will be a problem against Winter Springs. Bartram's focus probably won't be an issue.

The question is can Bartram beat an Orlando-based team for the first time this year? The Bears' two losses have come to Oviedo and Bishop Moore. Winter Springs beat Buchholz 18-3 on Tuesday.

"We just have to go in there with an open mindset and know what we have to do and execute our game plan," Gallion said. "When we execute our game plan we do pretty well."

Taylor McCord and Melissa Coggins led the way for Bartram with four goals apiece. Caputo followed with three, while Jordan Cook and Aubrey Asplen each had two. Caroline Beggs and Jane Ruede tallied one apiece as well.

For Fletcher, Savannah Whitley notched five goals. Bethany Evans had two, and Eva Porter, Abbie Bell and Terry Kirton tacked on one apiece.

Boys

District 3 champion Ponte Vedra rolled over Oak Hall (Gainesville) 16-3 Tuesday in the first-round play-in game to advance to Friday's second round. The Sharks will host either Tallahassee Leon or Episcopal.