Author’s Note:  unfortunately we had no scoreboard/timer last night so I don’t have the times of the goals.  On top of that the Heritage road uniforms are black with blue numbers and the West Boca press box is very far from the field, so I suspect I have some of my uniform numbers wrong.  Apologies to that and I kindly ask that ALL programs over time move to a simple rule . . . If your uniform is DARK, USE WHITE NUMBERS.  There’s really no reason not to.

  The game itself was a story of the first 15 minutes, the last nine of the 2nd quarter and the second half. The first 15 minutes showed a competitive game that ended at 3-1 early in the 2nd quarter.  West Boca’s Abram Kope held steady in that period and AH-D’s shooters shot poorly in that period, missing the net on a number of good looks.  But as the game went on AH-D was able to run more patterns and over time the West Boca defense wore down, causing a number of the inside looks to be shot unopposed.  Over the course of the game AH-D’s faceoff specialist, Tyler Yarnall, was able to take control of the circle and potted two goals on the fast break himself. The last 9 minutes of the second half pretty much put the game on a glide path and the third quarter ended the suspense.  Colin Sypek finished all his good looks and West Boca found it difficult to get inside at all, and when they did Cole Loyd-Jones (and Sayer McMahon in relief) were there to shut the door, as they saved 11 of the 13 shots on goal he faced. Just like the first game I covered, this game showed two teams at different stages of development.  AH-D challenged Saint Andrew’s in the district semifinal and showed enough last night to make it likely they can give anyone a good game when they are on their game.  West Boca, coming off a disappointing OT loss in their first game, has only 5 seniors and will spend much of the season looking to improve.  There’s talent there, now it’s time to put in the work.   AH-D scored three times in the first to take the 3-0 lead.  Chase Goldberg opened the scoring with a face dodge to the middle for the first.  Luke Morrison then took advantage of a rebound on the right side of the cage and his right hand found the the low left of the cage.  Ryan Cohen finished off the quarter unassisted as he cut in from the right wing to the middle and his left hand hit the low left corner to make it 3. West Boca broke through early in the second as Kyle Cox found Reed Cook, and the long stick middie found the net off the bounce shot that kicked up into the right corner off the feed from left behind.  But Sypek answered quickly on the feed from Dylan Barry, on a left-wing step down that hit the top right corner for 4-1 and then Ryan Cohen found Sypek in the middle from up top and Sypek ripped the right hand to the low left for 5-1.  An EMO led to Emmett Wexler finishing the Cohen feed on the low right as he came out form GLE and hit the short side for 6-1 and Barry finished the half with the unassisted right alley dodge, hitting the low left corner to make it 7-1. Yarnall then twice popped face offs forward and went down to score early in the third to stretch it to 9-1, one straight down the middle and the second a little more down the right alley.  Cohen then took a Sypek feed on the left wing from left GLE and the shot hit the low short side for 10-1 but then West Boca got that back on EMO as Cox made a nice dodge from behind right, scoring from the right crease with the low left hand.  But that was the last salvo for West Boca and AH-D put three more up to end the quarter at 13-2.  Dante Moore took a Wexler feed to finish off the fast break, Yarnall took the feed from Barry as he cut down the middle and Sypek finished a give and go. The fourth quarter was fairly quiet as Sypek put up his fourth unassisted and Nate Brown also scored unassisted to end the game. American Heritage-Delray is back in action Tuesday, travelling to district rival Spanish River, while West Boca travels across town to Saint Andrew’s for the Saturday matinee.   Team Statistics   Faceoffs:  AH-D  14-5 Shots:  AH-D  39-24 Shots on Goal:  AH-D  21-13 Turnovers:  AH-D  16-12 Penalties:  AH-D  4-2   Individual Statistics   AH-D (remember, best efforts . . . don’t criticize!) Colin Sypek  4G/1A Ryan Cohen  2G/2A Tyler Yarnall  3G Dylan Barry  1G/2A Emmett Wexler  1G/1A Chase Goldberg, Luke Murrison, Dante Moore and Nate Brown with 1G each Cole Loyd-Jones and Sayer McMahon combined for 11 saves   West Boca Kyle Cox  1G/1A Reed Cook  1G Abram Kope and Reid Smith combined for 6 saves   Thanks to Coach Nathan Snitz and Coach Mike Jones for talking to me before and after the game