Author’s Note:  Thanks to Vernon Lee for the first gallery of pictures from Bishop Moore!  I’ll be using more of his with the District 12 preview and future BM games should they report through our Game Coverage feature!  And also welcome back to our own resident photographer Seth Austin, who dusted off his camera and is looking forward to another season of scintillating picture-taking!

  After attending two games that ended up 20-4 and 15-2 I was ready, if not praying, for a tight contest. Got it. Frankly I could have called it a Throwdown just as easily.  Physical without getting chippy. The trade-off in this game?  Bishop Moore’s FOGO Hudson Bohn going 13/14 at the dot versus Oxbridge Christian Tomei’s 14 saves on 18 shots on goal. And Oxbridge defended the faceoff losses very well, as BM was not able to get one easy fast break goal off those wins, and then their defense was able to keep enough BM possessions outside and that little difference made a big difference over the length of the game.     It’s easy to look at the score and the stats for turnovers and assume it was a sloppy game. Far from it. It was simply two terrific defenses playing with an intensity that even skilled ball-handlers had a tough time with.  How well?  For the 10 goals combined came on only 2 assists as passing lanes were tightly contested and in the end it took sturdy individual efforts to score the goals.  Big boy pants lacrosse. If they played 10 games like this it’s a good chance they split 5 each. Regardless of what side of the field you were on this is the type of game that gets you going for the season.  The type of game that truly signifies the season has begun . . . for two teams expected to make a lot of noise this year. Great game kids!     Oxbridge jumped out early in the first as Jerry Annunziata scored unassisted at 9:16 as he split two defenders on the left wing as he dodged middle, finishing with the right hand low past BM goalie Mikey Randazzo (who also came up with a number of key saves along the way . . . I guess he ‘Dazzo-ed’?  Okay, bad pun . . . to make it 1-0.  Jack Kilian made it 2-0 at 2:50 as he went down the right alley and hit the low left side with the right hand and with 51 seconds left James Dorsey took the feed from Connor Davies behind the net as he was cutting to the right crease for the low quick stick shot on EMO for 3-0.  that was answered by Justin Pridgen for BM just 7 seconds later as the LSM took the pass on the right wing and his right hand shot found the top of the cage from about 10 yards out to make it 3-1 after the first. Oxbridge answered with their own LSM goal early in the 2nd as Braedon Rupp and Davies teamed up on a give and go and Rupp was able to hit the left middle of the cage from about 10 yards to make it 4-1 just 7 seconds into the quarter.  Just 20 seconds later BM’s star attackman Jake Kiefer scored unassisted as he used the left wing and spun back to hit the net with the left hand to make it 4-2.  Exactly 4 minutes later he made it 4-3 by using a left wing pick, cutting to the middle and finishing with the right hand low to make it 4-3 at the half.       And if you thought the first half was tough to score let me introduce the second half, when it got even tougher.  The goalies combined for 13 saves on 16 shots on goal in the second half.  It’s easy to say from the sidelines and watching the tape about missing the net with shots that should have been scored on but when goalies are playing like this the shooters start to get to fine and that happened last night too. Dorsey scored the only goal for either side in the 3rd to give Oxbridge the 5-3 lead with 1:57 left in the period, taking advantage of a turnover he caused by timing the ride perfectly on a clearing pass and he had a clear path to the goal, finishing to the right side of Randazzo.  Looking back it was probably the key play of the game. OB attackman Bennett Bowers stretched it to 6-3 at 5:34 of the fourth as he curled from behind left and found a way to get off a right hand shot from the middle that found the low left.  BM had some good looks in the quarter but were only able to get one by Kiefer, who finished off his hat trick with 2:03 remaining as he also took advantage of a turnover to score from the right crease to make it 6-4.  BM did get some late possessions but were not able to cut the lead further and we finished at 6-4. Oxbridge is back in action on Tuesday, hosting Saint Andrew’s while Bishop Moore is also back in action on Tuesday, against district foe First Academy.       Team Statistics   Faceoffs:  BM  13-1 Shots:  BM  27-21 Shots on Goal:  BM  18-12 Turnovers:  BM  19-16 Penalties:  BM  4-3   Individual Statistics   OB James Dorsey  2G Jerry Annunziata, Jack Kilian, Braedon Rupp and Bennett Bowers with 1G each Connor Davies  2A Christian Tomei with 14 saves   BM Jake Kiefer  3G Justin Pridgen  1G Mikey Randazzo with 6 saves   Thanks to Coach Ross and Coach Reynolds for talking to me before and after the game