A depleted St. Thomas Aquinas squad hosted MIAA power McDonogh (Md.) last night at Brian Piccolo stadium and came out on the short end of a 10-3 score.  Given the youth of the lineup the game gave both sides something to look forward to.  McDonogh was able to ease into their difficult Florida stretch and STA was able to continue to groom their young talent for a possible playoff run, when Head Coach Terry Crowley hopes to have some of his injured starters back for.  Two of the fill-ins played big-time yesterday, as back-up goalie Michael Adler made 16 saves (62% Save) and sophomore middie converted to attack Louis Yovino scored twice (and was robbed a couple of times too) in his first game in that position. McDonogh is exactly as advertised, the #4 team in the nation coming into the game undefeated, with a road win over Phily-based power Haverford in the opener.  They are talented and deep and their experience showed in many ways as they basically pulled away early and controlled play for the rest of the game.  When STA did break through, which they did enough to be encouraging going forward, they were met by McD goalie Jacob Stover, who excelled with 17 saves of his own (85%!).  STA’s face-off group was able to hold their own in the circle and the defense was able to play well in settled situations, although McD was the beneficiary of too many odd-man fast breaks that Adler had to make often spectacular saves on.  A quick glance at the McDonogh roster shows what STA was truly up against: Trey McGee – committed to Denver Bobby Austin and Jacob Stover committed to Loyola Brinton Valis committed to JHU Robby Black and Barrett Sutley committed to Penn State Robert Clark committed to Georgetown Long Poles Alex Hurdle to Notre Dame and Calvin Livingston to Towson And that’s not a complete list folks . . . so if you are in the Vero area tonight (vs. LHP) and Boca (vs. SA) on Thursday you might want to take in a game. But STA fought hard and at least earned the respect of their opponents. STA actually took the lead just 77 seconds into the game, with Yovino making a nice individual play, making a face dodge from the right side goal-line extended (GLE), ducking under the long pole and finishing left-handed with a low shot at 10:43 to make it 1-0.  But McDonogh responded quickly and vociferously, with 3 goals in less than 2 minutes to take a 3-1 lead.  Trey McGee took a Robert Clark feed from the left wing, up top and fired a lower left wing high-to-high shot that beat Adler on the short side at 9:25.  That was followed at 7:46 as Bobby Austin took a feed right in front from McGee, as he took advantage of a quick restart, sprinting to left GLE before finding Austin all alone.  Just 9 seconds later, after popping forward a faceoff, the ball was moved quickly and Clark and McGee replicated their first goal and suddenly it was 3-1.  The teams settled down after that, trading shots and turnovers but at 1:01 Brinton Valis took McGee’s feed from behind on the left wing and fired home a low, right-handed shot and the teams went to the second with McD leading 4-1. Again the teams traded possessions to start the second quarter as play got a little sloppy but finally McD broke through at 5:49 on an EMO, as Robby Black took a crease feed from Austin from behind the net and potted it into upper goal to make it 5-1.  The lead was stretched again as Barrett Sutley was the eventual beneficiary of a nice three man pattern, taking Jackson Morrill’s inside pass and scored one-on-one right in front at 3:27.  By the way, EVERY McDonogh goal this game was assisted, something you rarely see in this sport and it sort of gave an exclamation point to the difference between the MIAA and just about everyone else.  But STA didn’t give up and Yovino made his second nice solo effort, faking a pass from up top and stepping up to fire an EMO bullet from 10 yards out with just 19 seconds left in the half to make it 6-2 at the half. Unfortunately for STA that was as close as they were going to get as McGee and Austin teamed up at 10:03 in the third to make it 7-2.  McGee, seeing an opening, cut in from the right wing and Austin found him from left GLE and McGee finished his hat trick from the crease.  Then, at 7:34, on EMO, Black took Austin’s feed from behind the right side of the cage and fired left-handed from about 7 yards on the right wing, beating Adler high to the far side and the two teams headed to the fourth with McD leading 8-2. Again STA cut the lead as Alex Tumminello made a nice swim move between two defenders up front and cut towards the right alley before sending a lengthy bounce shot that caught the upper corner to make it 8-3 with 8:42 left.  But that was it as McDonogh capitalized on two late fast breaks to put the game away and make the final 10-3.  Morrill scored both goals close in, receiving fast break feeds from Clark and McGee respectively at 4:06 and 2:20. While the home town folks go home disappointed they can take solace in how hard this team is playing as they face a very difficult schedule to finish out the year.  There are some things that need to be improved on, particularly in the clearing game where too many times a ball carrier tried to make a move between a double-team instead of using their outlet.  That was a problem at times last year too and it needs to be fixed.  But I like how this year’s team plays better than last year’s and if Coach Crowley can get some players back in time they will be a dangerous team to deal with come playoff time. For McDonogh, thanks for giving the home crowd a look at how the game can be played when all the pieces come together.  They certainly showed their national ranking is no fluke.   Team Statistics   Faceoffs:  McD 8-7 Shots:  McD 37 – STA 33 Shots on Goal:  McD 26 – STA 20 Turnovers:  McD 20 – STA 21 Penalties:  McD 6 – STA 5   Individual Statistics   McD Trey McGee  3G/3A Bobby Austin  1G/3A Jackson Morrill  2G/1A Robby Black  2G Brinton Valis and Barrett Sutley  1G each Robert Clark  3A STA Louis Yovino  2G Alex Tumminello  1G   Thanks to Coach Terry Crowley and Coach Andy Hilgartner for talking to me before and after the game. McDonogh travels to Vero Beach tonight to face LHP and STA is back in action later this week, traveling to LHP to play their next game.