I’m sure some readers raised an eyebrow at the last Top 20 poll when I put Stoneman Douglas at #5. Lower your eyebrows. #5 Stoneman Douglas came loaded for Thunderwolve last night and raced out to an 8-0 lead before cruising to a 13-7 win over #15 Oxbridge last night.  Oxbridge put together a couple of runs but got no closer than a 4-goal deficit the rest of the game.  The first 18 minutes was pretty much a clinic by SD as they shot often, hit the net often, hit the open man often, barely turned the ball over and controlled the faceoffs. That’s usually a pretty good formula for a win. And Blake Israel has the best first step down here.  Remember the Talladega Nights character who calls himself the Magic Man?  Now you see him, now you don’t . . . that first step is so lethal it takes the defender too much time to catch up, leading to great scoring opportunities, both as a dodger and a feeder.  Israel and Hunter Bell combined for 8 of the 13 goals.  Bell’s individual effort on the 11th goal was the complete lacrosse play, reading a clearing pass, picking it off near the faceoff circle and finishing off the alley dodge to pretty much put the game away emotionally.  

  For Coach Stan Ross’ Oxbridge squad this now becomes gut-check time.  In my opinion, this is a highly talented team that has not yet figured out how to win the bigger games. There are plenty of examples of this in sports history and many times the team eventually gets over the hump, but that hump is far more mental than physical. That last 5% is always the hardest and it comes from that extra effort in practice as well as believing in yourselves 110%, not 90%. Not unlike Stoneman last year. Which got to this point this season with the extra work put in over the summer.  And the confidence that came when they saw how much it worked in their early season win over SA. The elusive brass ring is there . . . but you have to want to grab it, not hope it falls into your lap. For Stoneman, a couple of solid opponents left but likely to run the table until we get to the postseason.  A fast-climbing Pine Crest remains lurking in the District final before a really interesting FHSAA bracket match-up.  It’s the even numbers that host the games this year in the first round and the Southeast bracket looks pretty stacked this year. Damn this sport is fun.  

  Oxbridge actually started the game off with a lot of possession but fired off target a number of times in the first and then Stoneman took over.  At 6:23 Israel took off down the left alley and hit the far low corner with the left hand to make it 1-0.  At 4:42, on the EMO (SD went 3-3 on EMO in the half), Tyler Gaffney found Bell all alone on the right crease with a feed from the left wing and Bell went low to make it 2-0.  With 42 seconds left in the quarter the lead went to 3 as Israel took Gaffney’s behind the net feed on the right wing and stepped down between the legs of Oxbridge goalie Ethan Randall with the right hand (yeah, both hands too!), also on EMO. SD continued the run into the second, dominating possession in the first half of the quarter.  At 10:30 Ryan Brodskey went down the right alley and fired into the high short side. Then Stoneman went on a 4-goal 43-second barrage to really open the gap. At 7:43, on another EMO, Israel from Austin Figas on a skip pass to the right wing from the left At 7:18 Gaffney from Bell at the right crease from the left wing feed At 7:10 AJ Ferraro off the wing faceoff win hitting the low left corner with the left hand from 10 yards out At 6:57 Bell from Gaffney on a two-man game and a finish from the right wing The most efficient 43 seconds I’ve witnessed the last two years.  

  To their great credit Oxbridge did not collapse after this run and played their best lacrosse of the game in response to it, going on their own 4-goal run in response and finishing the second quarter by scoring 5 of the last 6 goals to make it 9-5 at the half. At 6:09 Zach Ranta scored his first off a Robert Bayless feed as he took a top middle feed on the left wing and hit the far low corner and that was followed at 4:21 by Grant Wrightson taking a Liam Lisec feed on a fast break off a turnover on the left wing and he also hit the low right corner.  Less than a minute later Bayless ran down the left alley and hit the high short side at 3:29 and the run hit 4 at 2:33 as Bobby Kilian cut in from the right wing to the middle and placed a left-hand shot in the lower right side. Stoneman countered just 16 seconds later as Max Buckner took a right alley feed from Figas in the middle and hit the low left corner.  Ranta answered with 53 seconds in the half as he scooped up a loose ball on the right side and hit the low right corner with the left hand from about 5 yards out to end the half. But that was as close as it would get as Stoneman ran off the first three goals of the second half and although Oxbridge scored the next two, Stoneman scored the only goal in what was a non-eventful fourth quarter.  All the goals in the second half were unassisted and SD spent a chunk of the fourth in longer possessions to take time off the clock.  

  At 8:14 Bell scored his third on a curl from behind the left side of the net and his deflected bounce shot skipped high and eluded Randall.  30 seconds later Bell completed the play I mentioned above for 11-5 and at 6:30 Figas went down the right alley and finished with the bounce shot.  Oxbridge responded with Ranta’s third as he backed in from up top and found the upper left corner at 4:32.  Then Bayless finished Oxbridge’s day with a dash down the left alley before spinning to the middle and hitting the low right corner at 1:46. Israel finished off his day and the game at 8:58 of the fourth, as his first step got him space in the middle and his bullet found the low left corner.  Although statistically SD goalie Jason Wyner made only 8 saves a number of them were at important junctures of the second half that kept Oxbridge from going on a run that might have made the game closer down the stretch. Stoneman is back in action Thursday as they host University School, fresh off their win over previously unbeaten Cypress Bay while Oxbridge travels to South Fork on Thursday, looking to get back on the winning path.  

  Team Statistics Faceoffs:  Stoneman 12-9 Shots:  SD 40 – OA 25 Shots on Goal:  SD 27 – OA 15 Turnovers:  OA 15 – SD 11 Penalties:  OA 5 – SD 3   Individual Statistics   SD Hunter Bell  4G/1A Blake Israel  4G Tyler Gaffney  1G/3A Austin Figas  1G/2A AJ Ferraro, Ryan Brodskey and Max Buckner  1G each   OA Zach Ranta  3G Robert Bayless  2G/1A Grant Wrightson and Bobby Kilian  1G each Liam Lisec  1A   Goalie Ethan Randall had 14 saves for Oxbridge and Jason Wyner had 8 saves for Stoneman   Thanks to Coach Ross and Coach Burton for talking to me before and after the game!