By Mike Zima, Correspondent Senior Attack Gabe Noto had two goals and four assists as host Creekside bolted to an early lead and held on to edge Fleming Island 10-8 Tuesday night.

With the win, the Knights gained the inside track on finishing with the number two seed behind Ponte Vedra in the newly aligned District 6. Both Creekside and Fleming Island have already lost to the Sharks. The other schools in the district are Bartram Trail and Ed Nease. Twenty minutes into the game, it appeared the Knights would win comfortably. Passing the ball crisply, making the clear difficult for the Golden Eagles, and forcing turnovers on defense, Creekside showed why they stood toe-to-toe with Ponte Vedra earlier this season. Noto directed traffic from behind the goal, often approaching one side of the net and then finding a cutter on the opposite side for an easy conversion. When Julian Bonilla beat Fleming Island goaltender Ryan Kelly stick-side high off for the senior’s second goal of the game, the Knights led 7-0 with 2:50 remaining in the first half. But the visitors from across the St. John’s River made a game of it. Fleming Island scored two goals in the final 1:08 of the first half, the second of which came when middie Devan Marquis shook free from three defenders to deliver a bounce shot with 0:01 showing on the clock, to cut the Fleming Island deficit to five and giving the Golden Eagles momentum heading to the break. Junior Jack Hawley scored two of his three goals in the third quarter as the Golden Eagles drew within 9-6 as the fourth quarter began. Creekside secured the victory on a sequence of back-to-back penalties early in the fourth quarter. First, Knights goalie Conor Ryan made two saves to kill a man-up opportunity for the Golden Eagles, which ended with a penalty called on Hawley. Creekside capitalized on their opportunity when Noto found Ben Wiegel at the goal’s doorstep for a quick putaway that stretched the hosts’ lead to 10-6 with 5:40 remaining. The Golden Eagles continued to fight, getting late goals from brothers Patrick and Danny Schreiber, but ran out of time to complete the comeback. A major difference in the game was Creekside’s potency in man-up offense. In a closely officiated game, the Knights scored on four of six man-up opportunities, while Fleming Island converted just one of seven. Noto scored both of his goals while the Knights enjoyed the extra man. Though Creekside outshot Fleming Island 15-11 in the first half, each team finished with 31 shots. Ryan was excellent in the crease, saving 13 shots, while the Golden Eagles’ Jason Kunath was also superb, making seven saves in the second half, against just three goals allowed. Sophomore Tim Vanderlinde led Creekside, who improved to 7-1 with the win, with three goals. Fleming Island falls to 4-4 and remains on the road for another District 8 tilt at Ed Nease Friday, March 4.