TAMPA, Fla. — A trip to their first FHSAA state semifinals wasn’t on the bingo card for the Plant High School girls’ lacrosse team.
“We’re texting in our group chats ‘holy crap’ we’re actually going to the final four,” senior Sophie Weil said. “It’s unbelievable. Never thought this would happen.”
Plant is a team with twice as many sophomores than seniors; the Panthers are a year ahead of schedule.
“A lot of our starters are the 2025s,” head coach Jayne Chapman said. “Like I said, when I thought this might not be our year, there was a ‘yet’ at the end of that.”
“It’s been really crazy,” senior Alexandra Gillen added. “No one really expected us to get this far. We were definitely the underdogs all season. I think we really proved ourselves in the Steinbrenner game.”
Plant faced Steinbrenner High School in the Region Final and pulled off a 6-5 victory in triple overtime. The Panthers avenged a regular-season loss to the Warriors to earn this berth in the final four.
“We had faith in them; they had some faith in themselves,” Chapman said. “I think they surprised themselves with that win. Hard fought one, triple overtime game.”
“I grew up playing lacrosse all around the area, so I know all the other girls from different teams,” Weil said. "I played with a bunch of Steinbrenner girls, and they’re phenomenal. We’re good, too. But didn’t think it would be like that.”
There is some extra motivation for the girls in the same building. The Plant boys’ lacrosse team is making their third straight trip to the state semifinals.
“I would say there is a little motivation,” senior Sophia Gray said. “Seeing them go to states the last two years, and we weren’t able to accomplish that yet, definitely pushes us to work harder.”
Plant will face Bartram Trail in the FHSAA Class 2A state semifinal on Friday.
