Back in the days of SA’s dominance in Florida it was a common thing to call them the Big Red Machine and last night that fit perfectly. It wasn’t flashy. It wasn’t showboating. It was just a high quality offensive and defensive performance in all facets of the game. An example of this is that Boca actually played the faceoffs well but still lost 62% of them.  This is a team that will contend for national ranking this year and it will take a lot to beat them in state.     As long as I have written for FLN I have looked forward to this match-up.  The schools are only a couple of miles apart and many of the kids on both sides have played club or summer ball with each other and certainly against each other.  Boca is clearly in a rebuilding situation this year and there are bright spots on the horizon as the JV game went to OT before Boca pulled out the win.  But the night cap was not close and to me that doesn’t really matter because I didn’t really expect much going in.  I’ve gotten to know both coaching staffs very well over the years of my covering them and it’s easy to tell at this point where each program is. The crowd was quite large, as usual when these teams got together, but after the first quarter they turned pretty quiet as the score mounted.  There will be better days ahead for Boca and expectations for the season need to be tempered.  We’ll see later in the year how many of the Boca kids step up and place a marker for next year.  For the seniors of Boca who were such a part of the great 2014 season it will be a frustrating year.  You will best leave your legacy by the example you lead through the tougher times, helping to get your successors up to speed on what it took to make 2014 so special.  Those two SA-Boca games that year are still the most memorable moments of my FLN writing time and one day down the line I look forward to that special feeling popping up again.     One thing that I focused on while watching last night was to really focus on SA’s multi-talented David Diamond.  He can beat you in so many ways but what stands out to me is how he plays his position like a chess player.  If you know chess at a high level there’s a lot of memory but also a lot of subtlety.  A move is thought out many moves in advance and when you watch Davis you see that on the field.  Taking a small step to create the better passing angle, looking the defense off when it makes sense . . . placing the pass on the best side for the recipient to be able to more easily get off his shot . . . controlling tempo and changing speeds to create space instead of a full-out sprint.  Small pieces that add up to bigger advantages.  Add that to a terrific vision and an accurate shot and it’s no wonder why he is going to Albany.  And let’s remember there is precedent for an SA player to make an impact at Albany, so here’s to hoping for that success there. There’s really no point in doing the normal full-blown recap.  It was 5-0 after one and 11-0 at the half and when SA scored three times in the first two minutes of the second half it was running time the rest of the way.  Boca was able to score 4 of the last 6 goals but when they did get good looks in the first half SA’s Nick Ferraro was able to shut the door each time, with three of those pretty much one on one in close.  Boca was able to break out of their end very well but even when it looked like they had numbers the SA defense was able to catch up with their defensive speed and quality looks were very difficult to get.  Boca’s All-American from 2014, Nick McCabe, was face-guarded most of the night and when he did get the ball the double team was swift to attack and his effectiveness was minimized.     The first quarter went as follows: 10:54 – Nick Iznaga scoring from the left wing after a feed from Brian Fox 8:59 – Fox unassisted, taking advantage of a miscommunication and getting to the middle 5:18 – Owen Bezick converting from the crease after Davis’ right GLE pass 2:43 – Justin Cohen unassisted off a left alley dodge 0:18 – Bezick finishing off a fast break off the crease from Nick Diamond’s feed   2nd Quarter 10:23 – Bezick finishing off Davis’ feed from up top to the middle . . . the perfect example of what I talked about above 6:27 – Davis scoring on EMO with a left hand rip from the right wing after Fox fed him from the upper wing 5:29 – Davis face dodging left, changing to his right hand and hitting the far right corner while going left.  That’s easier said than done fans . . . 5:14 – Jackson Kennedy (a 6′ 3″ soph middie/LSM – watch for him later this season) taking Nick Diamond’s feed and finishing with the bounce shot 2:31 – Matt Adams taking Nick Diamond’s behind the net feed as he cut down the middle 0:35 – EMO – hidden ball trick with Davis finishing   3rd Quarter 11:29 – Iznaga unassisted as he beat his defender to the net from right GLE 11:16 – Adams from Gable Braun off a fast break from the crease 10:19 – Iznaga unassisted as he worked from behind and to the left wing before finishing after a face dodge 6:43 – Boca gets on the board as Mike Clinton picked up a loose ball on the left side and beat goalie Andrew Busel between the legs. 3:35 – Adams from Andrew Seelye as Seelye scooped up a loose ball and found Adams on the crease   4th Quarter 9:55 – Seelye from Mark Heatzig – Heatzig split dodge on the left found Seelye on the crease 8:26 – Boca’s Mitchell Doane stepping down on the left wing and firing low 5:01 – Brad Ging for Boca on a left alley dodge 0:45 – Ging face dodging from the left wing to the middle and going low   Boca Raton gets 6 days to prepare for Jupiter’s visit next Tuesday while SA hosts Benjamin on Saturday at 1:00pm   Team Statistics Faceoffs:  SA 15 – 9 Shots:  SA 24 – 16 Shots on Goal:  SA 19 – 16 Turnovers:  SA 18 – 17 Penalties:  Boca 4 – 1   Individual Statistics   Saint Andrew’s Davis Diamond  3G/2A Nick Iznaga, Owen Bezick and Matt Adams  3G each Brian Fox  1G/2A Andrew Seelye  1G/1A Justin Cohen and Jackson Kennedy  1G each Nick Diamond  3A Gable Braun and Mark Heatzig  1A each Goalies Nick Ferraro and Andrew Busel combined for 7 saves   Boca Raton Brad Ging  2G Mike Clinton and Mitchell Doane  1A each Spencer Dobkin made 3 saves   Thanks to Coach Holly and Coach Seaman for talking to me before and after the game