Last year, the Oak Hall School boys lacrosse team advanced to the Class 1A-Region 1 Final and came up just short of its first-ever final four appearance.
The No. 2 seed Eagles (17-4) took top-seed Bolles (Jacksonville) to overtime before falling, 9-8, in extended play.
Three key players of that team are back, and they celebrated their college signings together with a formal ceremony on Wednesday in the Oak Hall gymnasium.
Goalkeeper Tyler Trefzger signed with the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH).
“Tyler is a super cerebral lacrosse player, he’s a thinker,” said Oak Hall boys lacrosse coach Jonathan Montes, who has been the head coach of the Eagles since 2015. “He got to the Honors Engineering program so that speaks for itself, but he’s a heck of a goalie. He’s got great instincts. I would say he is an elite goalie.”
His stats speak for themselves.
Trefzger, who is a four-year starter, holds the school records for the most saves in a career (334) and the most saves in a game (16 vs. Tallahassee Maclay).
“I’m super grateful for the college I’m going to, the University of Alabama in Huntsville, because it has an incredible engineering program and a great lacrosse team,” said Trefzger, who signed along with his teammates back in November. “The thing I like the most about it is that it is close to a really big research park for internships and job opportunities.”
Although he’s the team’s keeper, he does a great job engineering the offense since he’s a really good outlet passer, which helps offensive players like Simon Myers and Pierce Montes.
Myers, who is an attacker/midfielder, has signed with the University of Montevallo in Alabama.
“Simon is an elite-level competitor and loves to compete,” Montes said. “His ability to shoot the ball is at an extremely high level for a high school kid, but he works. He’s a relentless worker. He spends a lot of time working on his trade and I have a lot of respect for how hard he works.”
Last year, he finished with 23 goals on 37 shots on goal.
He decided to attend the school in Alabama because one of his friends attends there.
“I’ve heard nothing but good things,” Myers said. “Small, rural school, good town. The town is mixed in with the college so it’s not a far walk if you want to go where you want to go. It’s not too big of a city and I like that.”
Montes, who plays attacker, is the son of the head coach.
“Pierce has an elite skill set, and a super sharp lacrosse mind,” said Jonathan Montes, who played Division-I lacrosse at Ohio State University. “He can do things on a lacrosse field that made me realize that he was better than me when he was in 8th grade and I stopped saying things to him about where to throw the ball…I realized he saw the game faster and in a different way than I did.”
Pierce, who has the most points in school history (339) heading into his senior year, originally committed to High Point (NC) but after a coaching change decided to stay in the Sunshine State at Rollins College.
“I’ve been a part of this program through my dad since I was probably eight years old just watching all the guys before me, all the alum play here, so it’s a truly special moment for me,” he said. “It (Rollins College) was the area, the location, the coaching, it was honestly absolutely everything and it just fit all the spots for me. I’m truly blessed to be able to go to Rollins.”