By Kyle Coppola
MDCA Captures Lake County Cup in Thrilling Finish
After coming up just short a year ago, the Mount Dora Christian Academy (MDCA) golf team battled through six grueling hours of wind, rain, and fierce competition to win the 2025 Lake County Cup. The Bulldogs’ victory came down to the wire, as they didn’t take the lead until the penultimate hole.
Trailing most of the day, MDCA surged late to post a team score of 324, edging out Lake Minneola (326) and First Academy (328) for the top spot. Eustis (334), Mount Dora (337), Leesburg (344), East Ridge (349), South Lake (368), and Tavares (376) rounded out the leaderboard.
Seniors Jonah Musselwhite and Jackson Graves led the way for MDCA, each recording personal bests. Jonah fired a 77, improving 15 strokes from last year’s Cup performance, while Jackson carded an 82, an eight-stroke improvement.
The breakout of the day came from sophomore Ethan Bowman, who delivered an 81, an eight-shot personal record that proved pivotal in the team’s comeback.
“Our team’s strength is in our tight pack,” says coach Mike Considine. “We may not have had the lowest individual rounds, but our consistency and mental toughness won the day.”
Rounding out the varsity lineup were Dylan Lapp (84) and Veydan Diaz (88), both contributing key rounds to seal the win.
The victory capped off a strong week for MDCA golf. Earlier, the program celebrated the close of its middle school season, with young players gaining valuable experience alongside varsity mentors. On Thursday, the Bulldogs followed up their Cup triumph with another win — a 159-203 victory over Tavares High at Deer Island Golf Club.
As the regular season winds down, MDCA will travel to Lake Mary Prep on Oct. 15, Bishop Moore on Oct. 20, and Juliet Falls on Oct. 23 for a tri-match with Redeemer Christian and Dunnellon High School.
For MDCA, this Lake County Cup title represents more than a trophy it’s a reflection of teamwork and the belief that Coach Considine has been able to instill in this program. It’s been a truly incredible turnaround for this team.
Photo provided by MDCA Athletics
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
