American Heritage-Delray girls lacrosse has advanced to the state championship after defeating Community School of Naples 12-3 in the Class 1A state semifinal. This marks their seventh state title appearance since 2018.
Stop us if you've heard this before: American Heritage-Delray girls lacrosse is headed to the state championship.
The Stallions downed Community School of Naples in a Class 1A state semifinal, 12-3, setting the program up for its seventh state title appearance since 2018.
It did not take long for Florida State commit Madison Vargas to get the Stallion on the board early, scoring off of Heritage-Delray's first possession, while Brown commit Jamie Woelfel added a second several minutes later.
Stallions teammates cheer before the match as the American Heritage School hosted the Saint John Paul II Academy Eagles in Florida High School Athletic Association girls varsity lacrosse action at the Scott Maurer Memorial Stadium on their campus in unincorporated Palm Beach County, Fla., on April 13, 2026. The Stallions dominated the Eagles in a 20-4 win.
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A long list of attacking players proceeded to strike for the Stallions, with Penn State commit Hali Horvath and Columbia commit Lily Svirky getting involved around the crease to help Heritage-Delray build up a 5-0 lead by the end of the first quarter.
Despite the early momentum by the Stallions, University of Louisville commit Sophia Dapper made several impressive saves to keep the Seahawks in the contest, matching the excellence of Heritage-Delray's Ashley Egbert in net.
They won against Community School of Naples with a score of 12-3.
Florida State commit Madison Vargas scored the first goal for the Stallions.
They have made seven state title appearances since 2018.
They will compete in the state championship.
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12 underclassmen donned black for Community School of Naples on Friday afternoon, but Dapper made it clear in the buildup to the state semifinal that their youth is not a reason to doubt their ability.
"We've grown up and become a unit," Dapper said earlier this week. There's so many new girls who've joined, and now we're all just sort of formed as one, and we're one big family."
That margin began to grow in the second quarter with Svirky in particular applying tremendous pressure on the net, scoring four goals in the first half alone.
"It's looking like a carousel out there with these rotations, and the Stallions cannot be stopped," said announcers on the NFHS Network broadcast.
On the other side, it was not until the final minute of the first half that the Seahawks were able to find a goal, falling into a daunting 10-1 halftime hole that they were unable to recover from.
Heritage-Delray went on to win 14-3.
Since 2018, John McClain and his multiple reiterations of Stallions lacrosse have won four state championships in six tries.
Each of those wins has come against Lake Highland Prep, though the Highlanders posted one-goal upsets in 2022 (11-10) and in last year's contested thriller (6-5).
So, yes, there's a bit of history between these two programs, one might say.
The Stallions and Highlanders, ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the nation respectively, are set to go at it once again in a winner-take-all title game, with McClain hoping to add to the chalk-full trophy case against Heritage-Delray's unlikely Orlando rivals.
Last year's game was of particular interest, with McClain lamenting officiating decisions around shooting-space calls, as well as one questionable call in particular that took the would-be tying goal off the scoreboard in the final minutes after a second-half really.
At the time, McClain said he would be watching the game's film for the next six months.
It's safe to say he's ready for another crack at them on Saturday, May 9, with game time set for 5 p.m.
Alex Peterman is a high school sports reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at apeterman@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: American Heritage-Delray girls lacrosse wins one-sided state semifinal