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Fleming Island Peaking for Playoffs, Dismantles Maclay

Written by Lee Roggenburg on . Posted in .
Patrick Schreiber creatively aims his bounce shot closer to his own feet than the goal as Marauders Trip Hunter (17) and Jimmy Wheeler (14) converge. Photo by Ray DiMonda.
Patrick Schreiber creatively aims his bounce shot closer to his own feet than the goal as Marauders Trip Hunter (17) and Jimmy Wheeler (14) converge. Photo by Ray DiMonda.
Maclay’s Sam Chase, who scored two goals, fires at Fleming Island’s Ryan Kelly Friday night. Photo by Ray DiMonda.
Maclay’s Sam Chase, who scored two goals, fires at Fleming Island’s Ryan Kelly Friday night. Photo by Ray DiMonda.
Above:  Maclay’s Evan Oakley (15) cannot prevent Devan Marquis from scoring one of his four goals. Photo by Ray DiMonda. By Mike Zima, Correspondent For the second consecutive night, Patrick Schreiber and Devan Marquis each scored four goals, leading surging Fleming Island to an 11-5 drubbing of visiting Tallahassee Maclay in a non-district game Friday night. Schreiber gave the Golden Eagles a shot of adrenalin with three first quarter goals. Seeming to always be in the right place at the right time, the sophomore shoveled in a rebound, was the first player to get a stick on a ground ball just outside the Maclay crease—which he promptly deposited into the opposite corner of the net— and scored by shooting left-handed through three defenders while running laterally to the goal. He has a knack for cutting to the crease at just the right moment, which he did while converting on a feed from his brother, senior Danny Schreiber, for Fleming Island’s first goal.  Patrick Schreiber led all players with five ground balls. “Patrick has the highest lacrosse I.Q. on our team, even though he is just a sophomore,” said Fleming Island coach John Hawley. Taking out a season’s worth of frustrations— the Golden Eagles have lost four games by two goals or less— in one night, Fleming Island dominated a Maclay team that entered the game with a 13-2 record and who had beaten the Golden Eagles 6-3 in February. “The only difference between that game and this one was our level of hustle and toughness,” explained Hawley.  “Our game plan did not change.” Another difference was the play of freshman face off specialist Max Michaels.  The Golden Eagles lost all 13 face offs in the first meeting with the Marauders, but on Friday Michaels won five of 15 ball drops. Fleming Island led 7-2 at halftime and was never seriously threatened.  Maclay cut the deficit to four on a bullet from Sam Chase that beat Fleming Island goalie Ryan Kelly with 7:42 remaining, but the Golden Eagles responded by unleashing Marquis.  With the Marauders locking down Schreiber, the senior middie scored three times in the last six minutes, all on rips from at least 12 yards out, to keep Maclay at bay. “Devan has such a quick release,” said Hawley.  “He can catch and shoot in less than a second, and a lot of times the goalie doesn’t have time to turn.” Marquis added a left-handed score on a drive in the first half, and his third quarter dive to get closer to the ball than a decelerating Marauder to give Fleming Island possession of a dead ball epitomized the Golden Eagles’ hunger. Fleming Island closes its regular season on a three-game winning streak and heads to Creekside High School Tuesday for a first-round District 6 playoff game against Ponte Vedra. “We are playing one of the best teams in the state.  They have great athletes and great coaches,” said Hawley of the Sharks.  “We have to play a perfect game, and then there is a chance we can compete.” Maclay’s Chad Minter raced to the goal with the opening faceoff to give the Marauders a 1-0 lead just eight seconds into the game, and repeated the feat in the fourth quarter.  Minter’s two goals tied Chase for the team lead.  The Marauders continue their second Northeast Florida road trip of the season with a game at St. Johns Bartram Trail Saturday.

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