6-5 after three. Intensity all around.  Pressure all over the field.  Plenty of first half turnovers on normally simple passes and catches because of that pressure. No quarter given, none asked for. And then STA put their head down and put the pedal to the metal, resulting in a 9-goal fourth quarter to pull away for the win.  Aiding in that run was a monster performance by their EMO offense, which took advantage of a 2-minute un-releasable penalty to score two early fourth quarter goals as part of FIVE EMO goals in the quarter. Oh, and Sam Khalil, who missed all of 2015, is back . . . in a big way. The STA offense might not be as good as last year . . . but even close to it means a lot of headaches for opposing teams. But don’t shortchange Oxbridge either in this one.  The first three quarters showed that there is a ‘there there’ . . . now to finish the game the same way will mean a lot going forward. St. Thomas showed they will not go gently back into the pack after last year’s remarkable season . . . and after the last 48 hours nothing is a given this season.     The best two-way middie in Florida, Louie Yovino (if you doubt that statement watch some clips from last night and watch him play the defensive game . . . full speed trail checks, serious riding, etc., . . . younger midfield readers, here is who you model your game after) opened the scoring at 9:53 unassisted as he face dodged from the low right wing to the cage and finished to the high left corner.  Oxbridge’s Zach Ranta, who also stepped up big time last night, evened at 1 just 47 seconds later as he spun left on the left wing and hit the top right corner.  At 6:56 STA went back up as Ethan Martin dodged down the left wing and made his way to the middle and went between Oxbridge goalie Ethan Randell’s legs while falling.  And just 47 seconds later Oxbridge evened it at 2 as Ranta went from the right wing, spun left to the middle and hit the low right corner at 6:03 and we ended the period 2-2. STA scored both second quarter goals to take a 4-2 lead into the break.  At 4:57 Khalil scooped up a rebound off the right crease and deposited it with one motion into the short side.  Then with just 19 seconds left Kevin Crowley went down the right wing and was able to find Jimmy Harrington in the crease and he one-timed it to the left side to end the half.  The stats were pretty tight as both teams turned the ball over more than expected, albeit from the pressure each time put on the other.  Neither side was able to get their shots on goal in the first half, as each failed to reach 50%. That was about to change, along with the turnover battle. And it would be the deciding factors in the game.     Oxbridge came storming out in the 3rd and only 33 seconds into the half they cut the lead to one as Robert Bayless found Tyler Jerd on the right wing after dodging down the middle and Jerd ripped one into the far left corner.  At 9:38 Khalil put STA back up by two as he face dodged from right GLE to the cage.  Randall got a piece but the ball trickled in and it was 5-3.  Oxbridge pressed on and at 5:58 they again cut the lead to one as Liam Lisec found Ranta in the middle from the left wing and Ranta hit the low left corner.  Then at 3:55 the game was tied at 5 as Bayless split a double team on the left and got to the middle before scoring between STA goalie Michael Adler’s legs.  About a minute and a half later Martin took Yovino’s feed on the left crease and finished high to take us to the fourth with STA leading 6-5.  OA was helped with a 5-1 faceoff edge, which overcame a 5-2 turnover deficit.  But a late penalty on Oxbridge resulted in a 2-minute un-releasable disadvantage and STA took over possession to start the fourth. Less than two minutes later it was an 8-5 advantage as Joey Guglielmo found Khalil on the left side and Khalil scored between the legs and that was followed by Guglielmo taking advantage of a screen off Harrington’s feed and at 10:37 the lead was back to 3.  The lead was stretched to 9-5 as Brennan Harhart face dodged the left wing to the middle and finished low at 9:42.  Oxbridge responded at 7:43 on their own EMO as Ranta cut the middle and Bobby Kilian found him from behind.  At 6:56 Yovino answered for STA as he stole an outlet pass upfield and beat the defenders to the goal, finishing in the top right corner.  Again Oxbridge responded, just 13 seconds later, as Colin Hayek scooped up the faceoff scrum and found Jerd on the right wing for the short side shot, drawing a penalty on the play.  But OA could not take advantage and the lead went back to 4 as a subsequent penalty led to Khalil and Guglielmo teaming up on the EMO and Khalil firing low at 5:27.  Oxbridge responded one more time just 24 seconds later as Bayless scored a shorthanded goal similar to his effort against Stoneman, beating the double to the middle of the field, going towards the net and hitting the right side to make it 11-8 with 5:03 left. That was to be the closest that OA came as STA ran off the last four goals to make the score look worse than the game was played.  Khalil with his fifth and sixth, Crowley with his first and Martin with his third, with Khalil’s final into the empty net.  Harrington with assists on two of them and Crowley with one. The STA offense saw its’ efficiency soar in the second half as they hit the net with 19 of 23 shots on goal in the second half while only turning the ball over 4 times.  That’s serious offense . . . against a heck of a defense.  OA hit the net with 11 of 20 but the turnovers did continue.  12 of the 13 penalties called happened in the second half and STA converted on 5 EMO goals while OA only converted 1.  In the end those few differences added up to the STA win. A very impressive late performance by STA and Oxbridge came up a little short.   Oxbridge is back in action on Tuesday, traveling to St. Edwards while STA is off until Friday when they travel north to Orlando for a rematch of the state finals with Lake Highland Prep, coming off their own upset loss to Lake Brantley.  With a Monday game in Jacksonville with Ponte Vedra on the docket the STA-LHP game might well take on an even more significant factor.   Team Statistics Faceoffs:  STA 12-11 Shots:  STA 39-29 Shots on Goal:  STA 26-15 Turnovers:  Oxbridge 21-15 Penalties:  STA 7-6   Individual Statistics   STA Sam Khalil  6G/1A Ethan Martin  3G Louie Yovino  2G/1A Jimmy Harrington  1G/3A Kevin Crowley and Joey Guglielmo  1G/2A each Brennan Harhart  1G Michael Adler with 7 saves   Oxbridge Zach Ranta  4G Robert Bayless  2G/1A Tyler Jerd  2G Liam Lisec, Colin Hayek and Bobby Kilian with 1A each Ethan Randell with 11 saves   Thanks to Coach Crowley and Coach Ross for speaking to me before and after the game.