Montverde Academy's boys' lacrosse team secured a hard-fought 7-6 victory over Windermere High School on Friday night in Montverde, improving its record to 5-4.

The Eagles came out strong, dominating early before fending off a late Windermere comeback to hold on for the win.

MVA set the pace right from the start. Caleb Parmer opened the scoring in the eighth minute, followed by goals from Blake Kuhn and Gavin Ionelli in quick succession. Another Eagles goal gave the MVA a 4-0 lead before Windermere responded, making it 4-1 at the end of the first quarter.

Windermere gained momentum in the second quarter as Montverde struggled to connect passes, allowing their opponents to win key groundballs and close the gap to 4-3 by halftime.

Despite the shift in momentum, Montverde's defense, led by goalie Sam Juhnke, held strong.

After halftime, Kuhn extended MVA's lead with his second goal of the night. But Windermere kept pushing and stayed within reach. Kuhn completed his hat trick before the third quarter ended, with MVA leading 6-4..

In the final quarter, Camden Fisher added another goal to give the Eagles a 7-4 lead. Windermere though refused to go down easily. The Wolverines scored with two minutes left to make it 7-5 and struck again with just 50 seconds remaining to cut the lead to one. In the tense final seconds, MVA's defense held firm, sealing the victory.

"You know, we've faced a lot of adversity. We've got a lot of injuries, got a lot of guys out," head coach Chris Spaulding said. "We got guys out there that are really just Iron Man lacrosse, man. They're playing both sides of the ball, playing the whole game."

Kuhn's three-goal performance and Juhnke's 15 saves played a major role in the win.

The Eagles will look to build on this momentum as they continue their season, with their next matchup being on March 18th against Lake Minneola.