On Friday Tampa Jesuit traveled across the state to play a two-game swing in Boca Raton.  On Friday they rose to the occasion and knocked off Boca Raton 8-6.  It was a different story Saturday afternoon as Belen Jesuit jumped out early and stretched the lead to 7-1 at halftime before comfortably earning a 10-4 win as Tampa never threatened to mount a comeback.  Shooting was a particular chore as they only placed 14 shots on goal on 33 attempts and made numerous passing mistakes in the first half. Once again proving that high school is a difficult level to predict . . . Belen head coach Alan Bellando has been patiently building a program and there has been a boom in the number of kids playing lacrosse at Belen, and that early group has now become juniors and seniors.  And they are starting to pay dividends.  An 11-7 record last year included a signature win over Columbus Catholic in the district playoff and now an early win over a Tampa Jesuit program that has seen success over the recent years takes the program another step up the ladder of accomplishment.  I highlighted Tampa Jesuit’s schedule as a factor down the line in their potential playoff run.  When you look at Belen you notice that their toughest games are their last three so it’s possible they will run off quite the record until then.  Starting at #20 this season they have potential to climb the poll. The game itself really did not have a smooth flow.  Tampa just played a lousy first half, almost as if they were suffering a hangover from the exciting win of the previous night, while Belen wanted to play a controlled game, keeping possession, and also threw a wrinkle of a zone defense into the pie.  That combination led to a slow, but steady grinding down of Tampa Jesuit and the final score certainly reflected the tone of the game.  Belen didn’t do anything flashy but they were effective . . . and now we have another program on the rise in this state.   Belen opened the scoring with a fast  break goal at 9:11 as Gabriel Garcia went with the quick restart off an offside call and found Dieter Prussing in the middle going towards net and Prussing finished low to the right corner.  After a number of sloppy turnovers on both sides Daniel Dager took Garcia’s feed from behind the right side of the net on the wing and stepped down with a bounce shot to make it 2-0 at 2:08 to end the first. Only 16 seconds into the second Belen pushed it to 3-0 as Prussing and John Powell completed a fast break off a turnover and Prussing finished off the crease feed with the right hand.  Then at 7:30 it was 4-0 as Prussing found Garcia on the right wing from behind and Garcia went low left corner.  A little over two minutes later it was 5-0 as Prussing’s shot from the right side was partly stopped by Tampa goalie Will Sands, only to have the ball drop just over the line.  The run was completed at 2:24 when Dager took Garcia’s behind pass on the right wing and found the low left corner for 6-0.  Tampa Jesuit’s Jon McGonnigal finally got TJ on the board as Jake Lemon fed him from the top middle and McGonnigal stepped down with the right hand, hitting the low right corner with 1:35 left in the half but Belen responded just 8 seconds later as Patrick Arean bounced a right wing shot into the top left corner to blunt any momentum building that Tampa could hope for and the half ended at 7-1.  The key statistic from the first half was the shooting, where Belen hit the net with 12 of 17 shots while Tampa only hit the net with 4 of 13. Belen put the game away by scoring the first two goals of the third to stretch it to 9-1.  Robert Fernandez finished off the crease feed after Prussing dodged left and drew the defense with him, and Fernandez found himself all alone, finishing low at 6:21 and at 3:50 Garcia scored unassisted on EMO as face dodged off the left wing and hit the short side.  Tampa got one back at 1:19 as Chris Conn took Lemon’s up top feed on the left wing and hit the low far corner to send it to the fourth at 9-2. Lemon pulled Tampa to 9-3 at 9:52 as he dodged from the right wing to the middle and his left hand caught the low right corner.  Then at 6:07 Lemon and John Bencievenga worked the two man game on the right wing with Bencievenga ripping into the top right side for 9-4.  Garcia and Prussing teamed up to close out the scoring at 2:08 off of a fast break, with Garcia taking the cross crease feed and going low to make the final 10-4. Pretty much a final score that reflected the statistics and the flow of the game.  A long bus ride back across the state . . . and another tale of how high school sports can turn out.  A solid win immediately followed by disappointing performance.  But tomorrow’s another day and it is still a long season ahead and plenty of time to make amends, which I’m sure they will.   Tampa Jesuit is back in action on Wednesday, hosting district foe Berkeley Prep and Belen Jesuit plays Tuesday at home in their first district test, hosting St. Brendan.   Team Statistics Faceoffs:  Belen 9-6 (three possession faceoffs) Shots:  Tampa 33-28 Shots on Goal:  Belen 18-14 Turnovers:  Belen 18-16 Penalties:  Tampa 5-3   Individual Statistics   Belen Jesuit Gabriel Garcia  3G/3A Dieter Prussing  3G/2A Daniel Dager  2G/1A Patrick Arean and Robert Fernandez  1G each John Powell  1A Goalie Mat Salas made 10 saves   Tampa Jesuit Jake Lemon  1G/3A Jon McGonnigal, Chris Conn and John Bencievenga  1G each Goalie Will Sands made 8 saves   Thanks to Coaches Alan Bellando and Brian Lemon for talking to me before and after the game and also thanks to Boca High for hosting the game and helping to fund-raise for the event.