The Barron Collier Boys lacrosse team’s stellar season continues as planned.  BC’s winning history is long and known by the purists around the state and they continued to prove that their rankings are deserved. The Cougars cruised by Sarasota-Cardinal Mooney, 15-5 to move one step closer. Barron Collier (18-1), ranked No. 2 in the FHSAA by Laxpower.com and FLN dominated early. The Cougars stonewall defense held Cardinal Mooney without a shot in the first quarter. Matt Hobden (14) and Michael O’Dea (14) pushed Barron Collier to an early lead. Hobden scored the game’s opening goal less than three minutes into the match off a pass from O’Dea. “Someone is always going to be open,” Hobden said. “It’s not just individual players; we are a team.”  With the depth and offensive shooters this team has, locking off one guy is very challenging.  Sean Nash picked up another goal taking a pass from Odea and Hobden picked up a quick score. O’Dea scored on a wrap around to give Barron Collier a 4-0 lead. Barron’s offense is complex and hard to defend.  Cutters and off ball movement highlight  a team with extreme patience and delivery.  It is never the same guy getting the goals, which makes match ups  a challenge.  For the game, O’Dea finished with four goals and two assists, while Hobden finished with three goals and an assist.  BC Juniors Jake Telitiz, Austin Miller, Drew Goodrich, Beckett Haglund and Roberto Lopez all picked up goals for the Cougars.  FOGO specialists Pat Mahoney (17), Dylan Miller (14) and Nash owned the circle with a 90% win ratio. Bright spots for Cardinal Mooney’s were Reagan Griffith who had a hat trick and Zacharay Berendes picked up the other two for the Sarasota school who ended the year 12-7 including two losses to BC.   CM never backed down to the much larger and faster BC Cougars and played hard to the final horn.  Without a senior, CM’s future looks very bright.     Barron Collier was knocked out of the playoffs last year in the Elite Eight by Benjamin (8-5) in a game that still stings.  Last year the Cougars started six sophomores and lacked the “Big Game” experience.  That’s no longer the case.  “Hopefully the guys remember the taste in their mouth from last year after we lost to Benjamin,” Coach Trent Carter said. BC will face St. Thomas Aquinas, Laxpower.com’s No. 3 team in FHSAA on Tuesday at Cougar Stadium in Naples. The Cougars earned a 10-6 win against St. Thomas Aquinas on March 14. However, the Raiders were very short-handed and rest assured both teams will make necessary adjustments. Bottom line:  This Elite 8 match up features two of the top teams in the state.  Both teams are playing at the top of their games, have top shelf staffs and  have a strong mutual respect for each other.  Expect a hard fought, leave it on the field game that will send one deserving team to IMG and the other deserving team to ponder next year.