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The Many Saints of Lacrosse – The Scots Show Their Mettle with the 11-8 Win over the Pirates!

A year ago, it was these two teams playing for the FHSAA 1A title. It might happen again. There’s PLENTY of teams lined up to contest that. The schools are about 100 miles apart, but one is in Region 2 and one in Region 4, so the only rematch possible is the title game.

These schools have taken diverse paths to get here. The former dominating state champion and the school that has put their chips all-in on the sport and have built a very nice program over the past five years. As someone who’s religion does not include Saints, I was wondering about the names of the schools and whether there was some significance to the lineage. So, I took a look at a search engine to see.

Saint Edward was also known as Saint Edward the Confessor. I also took a look at what was written about St. Andrew and quickly came to the conclusion that nothing really related to Saturday’s game.

So, the Sopranos came to mind instead . . . certainly different sides of the spectrum.

This was a game I had picked out a long time ago to attend, and as the season went on it became apparent that the game would mean a lot. Sometimes title game appearances are one-shot deals, as the school put it all together for that year. Saint Edward’s certainly picked the right time to get hot last season, avenging a big Benjamin loss to reverse the result in the district final, then rode a wave of emotion on the back of a tragedy at the school to reach the final. St. Andrew’s pretty much went wire-to-wire, and no amount of intervention was going to stop their title ascension.

Both of the schools came out roaring this year. The only loss by either team to another Florida high school was last week when another Saint gave the Scots a one-goal loss. St. Edward’s lost to IMG by a goal and St. Andrew’s fell to Boys’ Latin and Dallas Jesuit. Three common opponents in Benjamin, Jupiter and Pine Crest, all stern tests, and both Saints marched through the path.

What probably even made this game bigger was the timing of the STA loss, as it meant St. Ed’s was elevated to the #1 spot in the Poll, something that had not happened before in program history, as well as coming at the expense of the former #1. Just a little added spice to the mix.

I had not been to the St. Edward’s campus before, so it was nice to see. Kind of tucked away in a sparse area right on A1A. A very friendly fan base that was welcoming to us. Last year’s Morning Coffee episode on the regional final game was well received and I was looking forward to meeting people I had only corresponded with before.

Stars were aligned to produce a heck of a game. Weather threats were real, but thankfully held off (games just a little north were cancelled), but it certainly was the most humid and warmest game of the year I attended, and I do think it played a bit of a role.

When you look at the normal statistics I track, you would only see one big advantage, and that was Nick Golubov’s performance at the faceoffs, as SA went 15 of 21. But I don’t try to count ground balls, and that was a huge difference-maker in the game. It was a rare 50/50 ground ball that wasn’t gathered by a Scot, and St. Ed’s hurt themselves with the inability to secure the first chance at a loose ball. SA just looked like they wanted to win that battle more.

Shooting percentages on goal were pretty similar. It got chippy at times as both teams served a combined 17 penalties, with a few more waived off. St. Edward’s did not convert an EMO opportunity, while SA did three times.

Both team’s goalies had solid games (SA also played backup Ryan Kaplan in the 4th).

Yet, with all this, the game never really hit the expectation level going in. SA pretty much won this game in the first 18 minutes, as they held the Pirates without a goal until midway through the second quarter, and it was already 6-0 at that point. It was pretty much a slow grind, as neither team took care of the ball that well, with turnovers being 21-19, and again I wonder if the heat was a factor. No one has played in hot weather this season until now, and it does take getting used to.

A 5-goal lead went to 6 after the 3rd quarter and there was really little excitement in the stands, with the 6-goal lead holding until a 3-goal run to end the game, making the final score look better than the game played out. The Scots played their game and St. Edward’s did not. It was that simple.

It’s high school sports, sometimes the buildup is greater than the game itself. In a season full of fun and excitement, we can just look forward to another potential meeting. These two teams are two of the best in the state; one showed it and one just didn’t have it that day.

1A is loaded; no one gets a freebie . . .

Sean Jordan opened the scoring for SA less than two minutes into the game unassisted in transition, down the left alley. After some back and forth it was Caleb Fox taking the Eric Stiefel feed from behind up front for the step down high shot at 4:46, and less than a minute later it was a similar play with Fox feeding Cole Hofbauer up front after an alley dodge and it was 3-0 after one.

SA made it 4-0 on an early EMO with Jojo Pores finding Jack Schulte cutting the middle, taking the top right feed and finishing with the left hand low at 10:24. Two goals within 16 seconds, starting with Hofbauer on top right shuffling a few steps and finishing right hand low, followed by Fox top left alley and high bounce shot, made it 6-0 with 7:28 to go. Ford Norris got SE on the board at 6:13, as he worked low on a 5 on 5, curling behind the net and finishing low, and that was followed at 3:48 as Reed Sternberg scooped a rebound in front and put it in for 6-2. SA rebounded with a killer goal at 1:14 as Schulte found Hofbauer from behind up top for the step down and 7-2 at the half.

Norris got SE off to a quick 3rd quarter start as he worked his way to the front, bulling his way to a shot that barely crossed the line for 7-3, but less than 3 minutes later SA scored twice unassisted to keep SE from generating a run. Quinn McGowan went down the right wing and his left-hand low score was followed by Kurt Schwarz finishing his right wing dodge to the middle with a short-side shot. The game went back and forth the rest of the 3rd without further score.

SE drew within 9-4 37 seconds into the 4th as Oscar Lindenthal found Ricky Savage on the low right from top right and his low shot-side shot found net. But SE’s penalties in the 4th killed momentum and SA took advantage. At 7:38 it was Pores finding Schulte with the skip pass on the crease for 10-4. A minute later it was Linderthal taking the Riker Pratt skip pass on left wing for the low shot but SA again converted the EMO as Stiefel found Schwarz on the crease, making it 11-5. That’s when SE ran off the last three goals, but it was mostly window dressing at that point. Linderthal from Pratt, Eli Barin from Pratt and Norris finished off the scoring for SE.

One week to go until districts . . . boy did this year fly by after two years of looking over your shoulder.

Team Statistics

Faceoffs: SA 15-6

Shots: SA 37-32

Shots on Goal: SA 24-19

Turnovers: SA 21-19

Penalties: SE 9-8

Individual Statistics

SA

Cole Hofbauer 3G

Caleb Fox and Jack Schulte with 2G/1A each

Kurt Schwarz 2G

Sean Jordan and Quinn McGowan with 1G each

Jojo Pores and Eric Stiefel with 2A each

Gunnar Schwarz with 8 saves and Ryan Kaplan with 3 saves for SA

SE

Fred Norris 3G

Oscar Lindenthal 2G/1A

Reed Sternberg, Ricky Savage and Eli Barin with 1G each

Riker Pratt 3A

Liam Murphy with 13 saves for SE

Thanks to Coach Bailey and Coach Seaman for talking to me before and after the game and a special thanks to AD Greg Zugrave for all the help! We certainly enjoyed our visit!

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