By Mike Zima, Correspondent

Fleming Island coach Jeff La Vangie has been pleased with his team’s balanced attack early in the season.  Unlike prior years, his Golden Eagles have not had to rely solely on 2014 All-District middie Hayden La Vangie.  However, a 12-7 win over Palm Coast Matanzas Wednesday night served as a reminder that it is still far preferable to have his son available to right the ship when needed.

The younger La Vangie scored two goals to stake Fleming Island to an early 4-0 lead, then found the net twice more to stave off a spirited comeback effort by the hosts.  The senior excelled on both ends of the field, finishing with six goals, four ground balls, two steals and an assist.

Fueled by slick stick work from attack Gunner Parson and conversions from middie James Mayer, Matanzas scored four consecutive goals to forge a 4-4 tie going into the intermission.  First, Mayer faked a high shot to get Golden Eagles goalie Ryan Kelly to raise his stick, and then sent the ball low across the goal line.  Later, he scraped the underside of the pipe with a long range blast.

La Vangie regained control for the Golden Eagles in the third quarter.  On the opening faceoff, he doggedly battled two Pirates to win a ground ball in his own end, outran a Matanzas middie to the box, dodged a defender and punctuated the coast-to-coast jaunt with a bounce shot from four yards out.  La Vangie whistled a ball past Matanzas’ Matt Gutierrez to give Fleming Island a 7-4 lead with 5:48 remaining in the third quarter, pumping his fist in celebration.  The intensity seemed to rub off on the rest of the Golden Eagles, who were much sharper in the second half as they continued to pull away.  Freshman Patrick Schreiber finished with three assists, setting up his teammates from behind the goal.  Devan Marquis, Jack Hawley and Danny Schreiber each tallied two goals as Fleming Island ran its record to 4-0.

 Parson finished with one goal and two assists for Matanzas, which falls to 1-2. The Pirates were led by Andrew McIntire’s three goals, while middie Jake Cohill scored once.