Within two and a half minutes of the opening face off on Friday night the UCF Knights found themselves in a deep hole.  MCC’s Dylan Lowdermilk was getting it done at the X and the FSU offense was doing their part as well. Lake Mary’s Cole Lindquist, Maclay’s Tucker Schwarz, and Tyler Aki all got early goals for the Noles.  In fact, it was 4:40 into the game before the Knights would get their first possession and they were held without a shot for the first 9:38 of the game. FSU would add two more goals and make it a 5-0 game and it was a dominant 5-0.  But UCF Coach James Foote and his team showed no signs of cracking.  At 3:52 FSU made their first mistake, drawing a flag and giving the Knights an EMO opportunity.  UCF freshman and former Oviedo standout Rylan Kortus made the most of it and scored in short order.  Shortly after that another Oviedo Lion, Frank Stroble, scored from the top to make it 5-2 and keep UCF in the game. After ten opening minutes where it looked like FSU was going to absolutely run away with the game the last two minutes of the opening quarter were tightly contested and back and forth.  At the end of one it was 6-4 FSU. Lake Brantley’s Ian Gehlbach led UCF into the second quarter with back to back goals to tie the game 6-6 with just under 4 minutes gone.    But FSU would come right back with a run of their own getting a goal from Oviedo’s Davis Goodman followed by two more from Tucker Schwarz. The two teams finished out the second half trading goals and possessions and a first half marked by giant swings in momentum closed out with FSU still leading 10-8. The second half started out with a UCF EMO on a carry over penalty from the first half and they managed a long possession and a barrage of shots but none found the back of the net.  After almost four and a half minutes of non-stop UCF offense an illegal pick turned it over and FSU scored quickly to make it 11-8.  After another UCF goal the momentum once again swung to FSU and only some fantastic goal tending by University School’s Daniel Harris kept the ‘Noles out of the cage. At the end of three the ‘Noles were up 13-11.  The third quarter featured a pair of excellent goals by FSU’s Lindquist and a fantastic low to high shot by Kortus for UCF that just barley made it under the cross bar.   Overall the third was marked by fantastic high speed action at both ends of the field but not a ton of scoring, due in large part to UCF’s Harris. Things tightened up quickly in the fourth when, once again, Rylan Kortus dodged right into the teeth of the FSU defense to score making it 13-12.  The game slowed somewhat for the middle part of the quarter until UCF tied it up at 13 with just under 5:00 minutes to go.  FSU was looking a little tired and started to make some mistakes.  The momentum was shifting towards the Knights at the most critical part of the game. However, Cole Lindquist came up huge again and again scoring twice to get FSU back in front by two goals.   The Seminoles made another mistake that could have proved costly.  An ill advised high hit put them man down, locked in, for the balance of the game with just under two minutes left.   UCF was game but a couple of excellent late saves by Spencer Talbot preserved the two goal lead for FSU. FSU won 15-13.  We were super impressed with some excellent Florida talent.  Lake Mary’s Cole Lindquist was our star of the game but Oviedo’s Rylan Kortus was a tremendous play maker for UCF.  Maclay’s Tucker Schwarz played excellent.  Melbourne Central Catholic’s Dylan Lowdermilk and Lake Mary’s Chris Masten both had solid games at the face off X for FSU.  Lake Brantley’s Caleb Ross did a nice job at the X for the Knights. Flagler Palm Coast’s Wesley Adams had an excellent game at the midfield for the Knights. Our stats gave FSU an 17-12 advantage at the F/O X.   FSU scoring – Cole Lindquist 6 goals, Tucker Schwarz with 3, Davis Goodman 2 goals, and Tyler Aki, Mason Mueller, Ricky Rochester, Chase Beale all scored once. For UCF it was Rylan Kortus with 5 goals, Ian Gehlbach with 2 and Frank Strobl, Wesley Adams, Tyler McGauley, Nick Poidomani, Andrew Meldrum, and Steven Thompson with one goal each. If you get a chance to go out and see one of Florida’s MCLA teams play this season you should do it.  The crowd was great, the play was fast, and the price is right!