The underdog won this one.  In the past that was said in 2011 and 2013.  At West Orange High School. Both times LHP overcame SA in a state championship game as the underdog heading into it. For the first time in the HISTORY of this rivalry LHP went into the game as a favorite and lost.  Which adds another layer of intrigue to this rivalry.   One statistic told the story very well. SA took 35 shots and put 21 on net while LHP took 45 shots but put only 20 on net. In a two-goal victory that was a pretty big difference maker . . . LHP’s normally reliable shooters missed open looks and part of this statistic was that SA’s long poles were able to close out on the shooter effectively, limiting the follow through.  The zone defense played by SA with the low level played by the short stick defenders allowed the long poles to get out to the LHP shooters quicker and that dynamic will certainly play out again if they meet down the road.     Turnovers were pretty close as were faceoffs.  Penalties were low.  The goalies had 8 and 13 saves. And a note to Harris Feldman (which was conveyed in the parking lot) . . . if you want to be a goal scorer you need to take the extra step and absorb the hit after the shot. Stick to your day job . . . you are doing that pretty well right now!   It was a hot day and that definitely played a role.  Given how cool the earlier season has been the kids are not quite used to the heat and it showed later in the game.  LHP came out sluggish and SA made them pay with a 4-0 opening run.  That lead stayed pretty constant until the fourth quarter when LHP chipped away and twice pulled within one but SA found an answer to each one of them and after LHP got to within one with less than two minutes left SA was able to take advantage of an abnormal LHP defense brain freeze to score into the open net to help keep LHP at bay. The heat also had some effect on the crowd, which as always, was competitive but polite.  And of course the LHP travel experience was continued in style.  It really took until the fourth quarter for the crowd to really get into it as the constant margin since the first didn’t lend itself to a lot of crowd noise until the lead was finally cut in to. But the final two minutes of action gave both sides plenty to cheer about and the old juices kicked in.  These two schools have played so many of these nail-biters.  

  But in the end we are left with as many questions as we have answers. Have LHP’s players started to just assume they will turn it on when necessary?  Ask the SA kids of 2013 if that is a good assumption . . . you’d think some of the LHP kids would remember that.  After all, they were the beneficiaries of that in 2013.  Mental mistakes have a way of repeating themselves in key moments. Has SA really gotten this good this quickly?  In this environment of competitive balance that would be some achievement but let’s remember that it’s still the regular season and you have to do it when it counts most. Once again, the sport produces on the drama of athletic competition . . . cue ABC’s Wide World of Sports theme . . . and tune in for the playoffs lacrosse fans!     SA jumped out early, at 11:13, as Nick Diamond took advantage on an early LHP penalty to score on EMO.  Brother Davis fed him in the middle of the defense from up top and Nick turned left before hitting the top left corner for 1-0.  Davis Diamond then scored at 8:42 unassisted as he took his own clear straight down the middle before placing a lengthy bounce shot that kicked up into the top left corner for 2-0 and only 8 seconds later SA’s Alex Newhouse popped a faceoff forward and when LHP did not slide he got off a low left corner shot that found the net and SA led 3-0 less than four minutes in.  With 1:08 left it went to 4-0 as Owen Bezick cut to the cage and Tito Thompson found him from GLE and Bezick took a step towards the middle and found the right side.  LHP’s Don Eidson got one back with 34 seconds left in the period as Jake Zerevitz found him up top from the left wing and Eidson stepped down into a bounce shot that found the top right corner to end it at 4-1 after one. A high scoring second quarter, so uncharacteristic when these two teams play, saw SA outscore LHP 5-4 to take a 9-5 halftime lead, highlighted by 6 goals in a 2:10 span of time. 9:29 – SA 3-2 fast break results in a crease feed to Nick Iznaga from Nick Diamond on the left wing 8:35 – Tiger Graham finishing Kyle Richbourg’s left GLE pass on the right crease with lacrosse’s version of the alley oop. 8:21 – Off an SA faceoff win, long poles pass to each other and finally Conlan O’Hara finds Nick Diamond on the left crease for the low shot 7:39 – SA scores on EMO as Davis Diamond picks up a rebound of Brian Fox’s shot and goes behind the back for the goal 7:28 – LP responds after the faceoff as Griff Caligiuri goes down the right wing and fires a laser just inside the top left corner from 15 yards 7:19 – SA’s Newhouse pops another faceoff and again takes advantage of the right alley and no slide to finish low to the left side So it is 8-3 less than 5 minutes into the second. Lots of fun to watch if you have no rooting interest; not much fun for the defensive coordinators . . . Back to the action.  

  With 4:26 left LHP cuts it to 8-4 as Jackson Colling gets some room on the right wing and takes the right behind feed from Graham to step into one that finds the mid right side but at 2:52 Sam Baker responds for SA as he takes Iznaga’s up top pass on the right wing and when the defense is late sliding, steps in and hits the low left corner.  But Colling responds again at 1:46 as Reid Thedford found him up top and Colling hit the low right corner to make it 9-5 at half. The third quarter continued the trend as the teams traded 2 goals each to make it 11-7 after three.  At 5:14 Peter Dykas made it 10-5 as he curled from behind the net on the left and beat LHP goalie Austin Farwell between the legs, only to be answered by Colling on the EMO at 4:05 as he again found room up top and stepped into one that found the low right corner.  Then at 2:46 Nick Diamond took advantage of a loose ball after a great Farwell save and had an open cage to fire into for 11-6 but that was also answered as Kyle Richbourg curled out from behind the net and found the left corner with a bounce shot with 1:14 left to bring us to the fourth at 11-7. LHP stormed out with two quick goals to close the gap in half.  At 11:11 Conner Aniello took Thedford’s feed up top from the left side and stepped down, hitting the low right corner and that was followed at 10:12 as Graham and Richbourg replicated their previous team-up with Graham getting the slam dunk for 11-9.  At that point the team defenses stiffened and both goalies came through to keep the margin steady at 2 going into the last frantic two minutes. With 1:46 left Aniello took a Thedford feed up top and Aniello found the upper right corner to make it a one-goal game.  Newhouse won the next faceoff and after a timeout LHP went with the double team on David Diamond on the left wing but inexplicably left brother Nick open behind the cage.  Davis fed Nick and Nick was able to beat the slow slide while coming out from behind and hit the open net at 1:30 to make it 2 again.  LHP did not go away as Colling again answered on the left wing, finding the net on the low far side with 47 seconds left.  SA again won the faceoff and after taking time off the clock an LHP long pole was sent off and it looked like SA would finally prevail. Nick Iznaga (edit note: my fault!) took advantage of the EMO to score one more time with 18 seconds left (of course, if the shot had hit the post and then . . . well, it didn’t) to ice the win. And now we will see how this game effects each team going forward. Still, a heck of a game . . . and still a heck of a rivalry.     SA travels to Gulf Coast on Wednesday and will play PJP for the top seed in District 23 on Friday while LHP hosts Timber Creek on Monday before finishing the season with Lake Brantley, Lake Mary and Ponte Vedra.  A rivalry game and two Top 10 foes to end the season.   Team Statistics   Faceoffs:  SA 14 – LHP 12  (a number of procedure calls) Shots:  LHP 45 – SA 35 Shots on Goal:  SA 21 – LHP 20 Turnovers:  LHP 14 – SA 13 Penalties:  LHP 4 – SA 2   Individual Statistics   SA Nick Diamond  4G/1A Davis Diamond  2G/2A Alex Newhouse  2G Nick Iznaga  2G/1A Owen Bezick, Sam Baker and Peter Dykas  1G each Conlan O’Hara and Tito Thomson  1A each   LHP (sorry, missed the assists on two second-half goals) Jackson Colling  4G/1A Tiger Graham  2G/1A Kyle Richbourg  1G/2A Conner Aniello  2G Reid Thedford  2A Don Eidson and Grant Caligiuri  1G each Jake Zerevitz  1A   Harris Feldman made 13 saves for SA and Austin Farwell made 8 saves for LHP   Thanks to Coach Seaman and Coach Spaulding for talking to me before and after the game! (RJ – when do we leave for Vegas?)