Prep lacrosse | Saint Stephen's girls continue best-ever playoff run with play-in against Estero

BRADENTON -- It was hard for LeeAnn Fronckowiak to qualify her first team at Saint Stephen's as a varsity club. The oldest players on the Falcons when she started three years ago were four freshmen and most of the team was comprised of middle-school students.

The first two years of postseason trips ended in the district championship games as Fronckowiak tried to build Saint Stephen's into a varsity competitor.

"When I saw the athletes, and the parental support and the administrative support, I could tell them when I first got there, 'You're going to win. It's just a matter of time,'" Fronckowiak said. "We were a varsity team, but we were by no means a varsity-age team."

Saint Stephen's will play in the state championship play-in round for the first time Friday and it will do so in Bradenton at Moore Athletic Complex at Turner Fields. After running the table through district play and knocking off Cardinal Mooney in the District 17 championship April 8, the Falcons (9-2) will welcome Estero to Saint Stephen's Episcopal School with three wins separating Saint Stephen's from the state semifinals at the end of the month in Jupiter.

The three Falcons who were freshmen when Fronckowiak are now juniors. Most of the team is still underclassmen and middle school students, but Saint Stephen's at least resembles a varsity team now.

"I was like, Oh my God, I finally have -- kind of -- a varsity-age team," Fronckowiak said. "You can do the conditioning, I can push them like a varsity team. Like this week. I pushed, so they'd be ready to rock and roll, and they're able to handle it."

Still, her team's youth does rear its head at times. When Saint Stephen's got off to a slow start against the Cougars in the district championship, Fronckowiak had to contend with tears from some of her younger players and urge them to regroup for their eventual 13-8 victory in Sarasota.

This past week, Fronckowiak brought football coach Tod Creneti in as an outside voice to emphasize the mental strength the Falcons will need if they're to continue their best-ever season Friday and reach the second round of play-in games Tuesday.

"When they're relaxed, that's when they're having fun and that's when they play," Fronckowiak said. "The games should be harder as we go forward."

David Wilson, Herald sports writer, can be contacted at 941-745-7057 or on Twitter@DBWilson2.

This story was originally published April 14, 2016 at 10:30 PM with the headline "Prep lacrosse | Saint Stephen's girls continue best-ever playoff run with play-in against Estero ."