Friday, November 6, 2026
MIA senior co-captain Gavin Pascale has his eyes on the goal despite Lely junior Aaron Tovar's head high stick.
Sophomore Nick Fielder goes in for a score.
Rays players celebrate the school’s first lacrosse district tournament win.
Junior Noah Smith got the better of this collision with Lely’s Alexis Gallegos.
Goal! Senior co-captain Lincoln LaButte celebrates a goal with junior Veleon Nazarko.
MIA senior Miles Massie battles Lely senior Luis Duarte.
Senior co-captain Lincoln LaButte has been a leading scorer for the Rays all season.
MIA Coach Doug Hill likes what he’s seeing. His Rays had an easy time in their 10-4 district quarterfinal win over Lely.
Lely players celebrate a goal.
Lely junior Antonio Garcia runs with power.
Lely junior Jeffrey Antunez breaks away from the pack.
MIA’s Deleon Nazarko fires a shot on goal.
It was a red letter day for Marco Island Academy coach Doug Hill on Thursday, April 10. In their first-ever district tournament game, the fourth-seed Rays came away with an impressive 10-4 home win over the fifth-seeded Lely Trojans. The Rays didn’t get to celebrate long, though, as they traveled to top-seed Community School the following night and were dealt a 15-0 setback by one of the top programs in the area. Hill couldn’t have been prouder of his team following their win over the Trojans.
"We controlled the ball,” Hill said. "We controlled the clock. We were respectful of our opponents, minimal penalties. We had some exciting things happen with a third-year player, Noah Smith, scoring. He's been trying to score for three years, and he finally did it. It was great to do it in the first district tournament game for our program.”
Hill rewarded Smith with the game ball from the Lely game. Winning over Lely (3-13) was special for Hill.
“For it to beat the crosstown rival Lely,” Hill said, “the kids are going to remember this forever, bigger school and all that. They have a good program there. They're building just like us."
While both schools play in Class 1A District 12 for lacrosse, Lely sports teams usually play in 3A, MIA in 2A.
Hill knew Community School (12-5) was going to be a daunting challenge.
"They're a great program,” Hill said. "They've got a lot of depth in their program. They've got around 100 kids. Lacrosse is their sport."
Hill wants his program to strive for high ideals.
"The number one goal for our team for the season was to come together as a family,” he said, "with values around respect, love for the game, and sportsmanship. And that's what we did. What we're doing is building a team culture around respect, love of the game, and sportsmanship. That's the important thing. I don't care about the scoreboard. I care about how the kids feel about themselves when they walk off the field.”
Community School hosts the winner of the two seed Barron Collier-three seed Naples semifinal on April 16. MIA finishes the season 5-8.
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