You just knew that this one was circled on the calendar for both teams. For one, a chance to gain a measure of satisfaction for last year, for the other, a chance to show it wasn’t a fluke last year. Score one for the former last night. Boca Raton went into the game off the high of a road win over #12 Jensen Beach and Saint Andrew’s was coming off Saturday’s big win at #7 Jupiter. But polls aren’t everything.  Last night exposed two things.  When SA plays with purpose they are very good, and a threat to beat anyone they play.  You can see it in the confidence they are now exhibiting.  Their last three games are road wins over Benjamin and Jupiter, and now last night.  Boca went into the season with a huge question mark . . . how do you replace what was arguably the best long pole threesome in the state last year?  SA went into the season with the question of how do they score against the better defenses? We now know who came up with the better answer.     Boca has managed to earn it’s way through the season with some big wins and that is a credit to them but there was a difference you could see last night between the two teams . . . or as Coach Holly put it after the game “they beat us at all the little things tonight”.  And in this sport the little things mean one big thing . . . possession.  Throw in the faceoff domination by SA and some first half clearing issues for Boca and you have the predictable result. What is frightening for SA’s upcoming opponents is that 8 separate players scored goals last night, and none of them were named Lutes (out hurt), Dykas, Fox or Davis Diamond.  Ball movement is better (7 assists on the 14 goals), turnovers are down and spacing is proper.  Nick Iznaga led the offensive thrust this game with 4G/2A. And more and more it looks like we have an epic first round FHSAA playoff game facing us if form holds . . . Friday, April 17th at 7:00pm.  Local fans might want to put that in their Outlook calendars right now . . . Boca had no answer at the faceoff circle as Alex Newhouse dominated to the tune of 17-5 according to my stats, took 46 shots to 16 for Boca and stayed out of the penalty box.  SA hit the net with 23 attempts and Boca only 9.  Both teams were sloppy in the first quarter which is to be expected given the emotional way games between these two teams tend to be.  SA settled down quicker and then took over the first half.  

  SA broke through in the first with a three-goal run in less than a minute.  Tito Thompson took advantage of a two-man pattern with Iznaga on the wing and Thompson fired into the low left corner at 8:05 to open the scoring.  18 seconds after that Thompson scored again, taking Nick Diamond’s right GLE feed all alone in front to make it 2-0 and at 7:16 it went to 3-0 as Sam Baker took Iznaga’s right GLE feed as he cut down the right alley and hit the far, upper corner  At 6:22 Ryan Clinton answered for Boca as he stepped down on the right side off Brad Ging’s behind the net feed and hit the left upper corner to cut the lead to 2 but SA got that back with only 27 seconds left in the quarter as Tyler Yarnell took advantage of a fast break to finish off the left crease from Nick Diamond’s top middle feed to make it 4-1. SA stretched the lead in the second with the first three goals as possession differential mounted.  Iznaga scored at 10:46 as he took Davis Diamond’s right wing skip pass on the left wing and hit the top left corner.  Then at 6:13 Iznaga worked the left wing and after a face dodge placed one to the low short side for 6-1 and at 4:40 Owen Bezick went down the right alley and finished between the legs.  Boca got one back with 2:02 left as Parker Giarratana took a lengthy behind the net feed from Michael Clinton, stepped down and fired into the bottom left side of the net to make it 7-2 at the half. Pace slowed down in the third and Boca goalie Kyle Romano made several big stops to keep the game within reach but eventually SA outscored Boca 2-1 in the period to pretty much salt it away.  At 10:35 Iznaga worked the right alley and made his way to the crease before getting off a left-hand, low shot.  Boca’s Bobby Cordoba then took an ill-advised 3-minute penalty for a bad hit at midfield but Boca’s defense really stepped up and with the help of some excellent possession on the Boca offensive side and an eventual penalty on SA, was able to hold SA off the scoreboard and when Michael Clinton took a feed from the left wing from Giarratana near GLE and found the low left side it could have been a momentum changer but SA responded at 1:37 to squelch that thought.  On the EMO Baker took Davis Diamond’s feed from the left wing lower on the left and finished to the high short side to make it 9-3 after three.  

  SA outscored Boca 5-2 in the fourth to make it 14-5 as they won 6 of 7 faceoffs and held Boca to 2 shots on goal.  The teams traded goals at 7:52, with Nick Diamond’s right side face dodge was matched at 7:05 by Giarratana’s thrust down the middle but at 6:17 Brandt Guldin was able to finish off his own shot and rebound into the upper part of the net from in front and that was it. SA added 3 late goals and Boca added one of their own late in the game to finish the scoring.  Guldin at 3:29, Iznaga at 2:59, Mark Heatzig from Anthony Sciametta at 1:52 and Ryan Clinton with his second at 1:45 but all of this kind of seemed anti-climactic at that point.  A game many attended and many were keeping their eye on ended up being a pretty solid performance not unlike from other years before. For Boca, back to the practice field, looking to improve on the little things.  Looking just like last season in the District playoffs, and a probable matchup with nemesis Pope John Paul facing them. For SA, a suddenly rapidly expanding vision of what can be accomplished down the line. And if form holds . . . April 17th . . . Mark it down now local fans.     Saint Andrew’s returns to action on Saturday, hosting IMG at 2:00pm in what now looks like a very entertaining affair as they gear up for a looming home game next week with Lake Highland Prep. Boca Raton is now looking at a finishing slate of Lake Mary at home on Wednesday, and STA and Benjamin on the road.   Team Statistics Faceoffs:  SA 17 – Boca 5 (one quarter started on penalty) Shots:  SA 46 – Boca 17 Shots on Goal:  SA 23 – Boca 10 Turnovers:  Boca 17 – SA 15 Penalties:  Boca 4 – SA 1   Individual Statistics   SA Nick Iznaga  4G/2A Nick Diamond  1G/2A Tito Thompson, Sam Baker and Brandt Guldin  2G each Tyler Yarnell, Owen Bezick and Mark Heatzig  1G each Davis Diamond  2A Anthony Sciametta  1A   Boca Raton Parker Giarratana  2G/1A Ryan Clinton  2G Michael Clinton  1G/1A Brad Ging  1A Kyle Romano made 9 saves for Boca and Harris Feldman made 4 saves for Boca Thanks to Coach Seaman and Coach Holly for speaking to me before and after the game.