Friday Night Lights!  Sweet!  Just Like This Game. St. Thomas Aquinas held off a furious comeback attempt by Lake Highland Prep as their defense held off a nearly 3 and a half minute possession by LHP to finish the game and scored a mini-upset in the contest held in Ft. Lauderdale.  Kind of mini-revenge for the game played two years ago here where LHP held on to win 11-10. Playing without star middie Reid Thedford, LHP started the game slowly and STA punished them for that effort.  LHP then spent the entire second half clawing back but fell short of tying the game up.  Pretty much everything you could hope for in a game and both coaches came away with positives to build on.  For Coach Terry Crowley of STA the takeaway is that his young team could win against LHP, which could come in handy later this year.  His big guns came through and in particular I want to single out Alex Tuminello, who easily played the most mature game I’ve seen of all his STA games.  Playing within himself and not forcing too much, he scored the most important goal of the game on his way to a 3G/2A performance.  The second most important goal was scored by another big gun, returning All-American Louie Yovino.  Both goals answered big LHP goals and kept LHP at bay.  It was great to see JP Crowley back on the field too after last year’s season-ending injury and while he will take a little time to make it all the way back he did chip in a goal and an assist.  

  LHP Coach Chris Spaulding always takes the long term and focuses on the run to the state title.  This game gave his team a test on the road against a quality opponent, without a star player and two new players taking over key roles that will be hard to fill.  Although his team disappointed in the first half they showed tremendous poise and effort in the second half.  His faceoff replacement for Max Parker, Will Walker, came alive in the third quarter and was a key factor in turning the game around, while ‘rookie’ goalie Austin Farwell saved his best for the second half too.  Coach Spaulding also had to be thrilled with the coming out party of Kyle Richbourg, who stepped up big time in the absence of Thedford to put up a 5 goal/2 assist performance, exhibiting lethal accuracy from range.  Although the rally fell a goal short the team was given an early reminder that this is a new season . . . and that the teams they play are not checking for championship rings. An early season reminder to all of us too . . . fasten your seat belts because this season is starting off with a bang! STA jumped out early, taking a 3-0 lead before four minutes had been played.  Yovino opened the scoring at 11:02, taking a feed from Alec Cumella on the right wing and ripping a low, left hand shot from 10 yards out that beat Farwell on the short side.  Just 12 seconds later Cumella took the faceoff he won and dodged from the right wing to the middle, finishing low between the legs.  At 8:09 the lead was stretched as JP Crowley fed Tuminello on the left side of the crease from the right side and he hit the partly open net.  After an exchange of possessions Tuminello fed Kevin Crowley from the middle of the field and Crowley fired home a low bullet in the lower left corner to make it 4-0.  Richbourg got that one back for LHP with 1:18 left as he took a right crease feed from Don Eidson as Eidson eluded the defense down the middle and it was 4-1 after one.     No goals were scored in the first half of the second as both teams were stymied by goalie play and some turnovers.  But then STA went on a run to stretch the lead to 7-1.  At 5:20 Yovino scored unassisted as he dodged the left alley and hit the far side waist high.  Tuminello then took off on a re-start, split the defense down the middle and went to the low, left corner and just 47 seconds later Jimmy Harrington drove from the left wing towards the middle and bounced a shot high into the left corner.  Richbourg scored his second at :49 as he stepped down on the left wing after faking a pass and going high to the short side.  But JP Crowley put the lead back to 6 with a 12-yard shot placed perfectly in the top right and the teams went to halftime with STA leading 8-2. And then Coach Spaulding found some of Michael Jordan’s ‘Magic Stuff’ at halftime . . . (Space Jam reference in case anyone was wondering about it) Less than four minutes Four straight faceoffs Four shots on goal 8-6.  

  Just seven seconds into the second half Conner Aniello took advantage of Walker’s quick faceoff win, scoring a one-timer on the right crease with the low underhand shot, drawing a penalty too.  And on that EMO Richbourg curled from behind the net to the right, faked a pass and found himself all alone, making no mistake for 8-4.  Then at 10:03 Jackson Colling took off down the left alley and fired into the far top corner.  That was followed 40 seconds later by Aniello’s right wing shot as Colling found him from up top and all of a sudden we had a ball game.  Yovino and Tuminello then teamed up to stop the momentum at 7:33 as Tuminello fed from the left GLE up the wing and Yovino went low from 12 yards.  LHP then responded with two more goals to cut the lead to one.  At 6:01 Aniello completed his 6-minute hat trick as Richbourg fed him cutting down the middle from left GLE and Richbourg added another at 4:15 as Eidson fed him off a fast break on the left wing and the stands were in a titter.  Dylan LaGamma responded just 8 seconds later off a Harrington crease feed on a fast break and LaGamma went low to the short side and it was 10-8 entering the fourth. At 8:13 LHP again cut it to one as Griff Caligiuri took down the left side and swung to the middle, making no mistake with the bounce shot from straight out that kicked up high.  But Tuminello responded at 6:32 with a perfectly placed bounce shot from the left wing off a spin to the right.  Richbourg, playing the western movie gunslinger, then faked off the defender on the left wing and went high, far corner and the stage was set for the final push to tie it up.  After winning back possession on the ensuing faceoff, LHP called time to set up.  STA came out in a zone and focused on keeping the ball outside.  LHP patiently worked it around, looking for the opening.  With about 90 seconds left Colling was able to get his hands free in the middle from about ten yards out, a favorite position of his, but missed the cage.  A few Aniello attempts from the wing also went wide and with 41 seconds left time was called.  After the timeout STA came out of the zone in a straight man defense and kept LHP from getting a good look.  The final few seconds played out around midfield and the STA fans in the stands finally let out their held in breath as their team celebrated on the field. A great win for their kids and a great way for those of us in the stands to spend a night under the lights. And thanks again to the LHP parents who made the trip south and once again defended their title of best pre-game buffet!  But the Vichyssoise challenge still stands! STA hosts Plantation on Tuesday and LHP travels to Seminole, also on Tuesday.   Team Statistics   Faceoffs:  STA 12 – LHP 10 Shots:  STA 36 – LHP 29 Shots on Goal:  STA 19 – LHP 17 Turnovers:  STA 19 – LHP 16 Penalties:  STA 6 – LHP 3   Individual Statistics   STA Alex Tuminello  3G/2A Louie Yovino  3G Alec Cumella, JP Crowley and Jimmy Harrington  1G/1A each Kevin Crowley and Dylan LaGamma  1G each   LHP Kyle Richbourg  5G/2A Conner Aniello  3G Jackson Colling  1G/1A Griff Caligiuri  1G Don Eidson  2A   Michael Adler made 7 saves for STA and Austin Farwell made 8 saves for LHP   Thanks to Coach Crowley and Coach Spaulding for talking with me before and after the game.  Coach Spaulding is a new Dad and congrats to him and his wife on that!