The first few minutes of the game should have told us that it would be a battle. Jesuit won the opening face off and controlled the first minute and a half with Ryan Brady looking sharp and getting some good looks at the cage.  But the possession ended with a nice strip by Hagerty’s Frank Cullen and Hagerty did what they do best.  Took the ball down the field, kept up the pressure, and Connor Knarsboro pushed the ball up from X and scored on a nice lefty shot giving Hagerty the early lead. But that was to be about the most offense Hagerty would muster for a while.  The even had the first EMO of the game with 8:28 left in the first.  The Huskies looked to struggle, never even getting a look during the EMO and throwing the ball out of bounds as the penalty expired. After a nice defensive play by Noah Menendez and a great clear by Jordan Suarez, Ryan Brady made a nice move from just below goal-line-extended and tied the game up at one each.  He would do it again a minute and a half later and at 5:12 left in the first quarter Brady gave Jesuit the lead they would have until the 2:17 mark of the fourth quarter. Peyton Elliott took a pass from Jackson Parisey to make it 3-1 Jesuit.  At this point of the game Jesuit was the only team playing any settled offense.  The Jesuit defense had the Huskies on the run anytime they got the ball.  They really forced the Hagerty middies to step up and they played tight on the Hagerty attack.  Andrew Bonnie and Erik Marshall were having a tough time getting engaged and the Hagerty offense was limited to low percentage shots out of the transition.  As time expired at the end of the first quarter it looked like things were going just how the Tampa Jesuit coaches drew it up. Jordan Suarez made sure that Jesuit picked up right where they left off as the second quarter began and made it 4-1 34 seconds into the quarter after Noah Mendez made a great dodge at the top, drew the double team, and found a wide open Suarez who knew what to do with the ball. For the next several minutes the game was all about Jesuit’s offense.  They had a ton of opportunities and only missed shots and hit posts kept the game as close as it was.  Then, with 7:44 left in the third Ryan Brady took the ball to the top center and let one go from 12 yards out that found the top corner giving him his hat trick and giving his team a 5-1 lead. Shortly after Brady’s goal Hagerty, again, moved the ball down the field but couldn’t find an attackman and took a low percentage shot.  Cole Fox caught the shot like a pass and threw the quick outlet to Stephano Mastro who carried and then dumped to Austin Curtis who buried the shot to take a 6-1 lead. Hagerty’s Kevin Collin got his first goal of the game from a Chris Carpenter feed giving the Huskies a little bit of life late in the half.  But with time running short Jesuit called a time out and set up the offense.  With 18.8 seconds left on the clock Stephano Mastro scored from a Peyton Elliott feed to take the lead back to 5 going into the half. If the first quarter had been mostly Jesuit, the second quarter was all Jesuit.  Hagerty had been able to muster no settled offense and Jesuit was clearing the ball with ease.  Hagerty coach Mark Ayad really needed to get his team moving early in the third or the game had the potential of getting out of reach soon. Jesuit came out and won the opening face off of the second half and looked like business as usual as they set up the offense.  But this time the Hagery defense played much more aggressive and caused a turnover.  That turnover may have been the turning point of the game.  Because Hagerty took the ball down the field and created their first real solid look at the goal on a transition since early in the first quarter.  The shot missed, barley, but Erik Marshall backed it up and brought the ball back into play a scored with 11:01 left i the third. On the next face off Kevin Collin scored right way, giving Hagerty two goals in 9 seconds of play.  It was now 7-4 and a whole new ball game.  Things got even worse for Jesuit as they were hit with an unreleasable penalty right after the face off.  Now Hagerty had the ball, the EMO, and the momentum. Kevin Collin got his third goal of the game during the EMO and cut the lead to two.  Connor Knarsboro came back with another and with 9:42 still left in the third Hagerty had pulled to within one.  The Huskies had just wiped out two quarters of Jesuit dominance in the first two minutes and 13 seconds of the third quarter by scoring four goals and putting the Jesuit defense and midefield back on their heels. Over the next several minutes Tampa Jesuit righted their ship and bag an to play strong again but they would not dominate like they had in the first half.  The Huskies had found their footing an the play was very even.  Both teams playing good settled offense and taking good care of the ball.  However, Jesuit began to have some trouble clearing the ball and the Huskies were beginning to ride harder. Ryan Brady scored his fourth of the game at 5:06 in the third to get the lead to 8-6 for Jesuit.   Jesuit won the face off and it looked like it might be there turn for a run but a bad pass put an end to that.  The Huskies got the ball and found Kevin Collin who answered back for his fourth goal of the   game to make it 8-7. Hagerty won the face off and held it for an extended possession.  Jesuit’s defense finally forced a turnover and got the ball headed back in the right direction but the Jesuit offense again turned it over on the transition.  The teams had clearly reversed roles.  Tampa Jesuit’s goalie, Cole Fox, no longer had any open teammates to throw the ball to on the clears as Hagerty’s ride grew more and more confident.  After several failed clear attempts in a row Erick Marshall picked up the ball and tied it up at 8-8 with time short in the quarter. Jesuit won the face off to open the fourth quarter and had much needed solid possession.  They had a great look but Ryan McMahon came up with a great save.    Jesuit’s defense stiffened up and held the Huskies back.  Peyton Elliott made a nice end to end run with the ball and found Ryan Brady who scored his fifth of the night, giving Jesuit the lead once again. Jesuit’s defense began to look a little more like they did in the second quarter.  They were wreaking havoc on the Huskie’s attack down low.  Erik Marshal responded by inverting the offense and got the ball at the top.  He ripped a shot from 15 yards out showing some good power to tie it up again at nine. With 5:50 left in the game Jordan Suarez scored for Jesuit to give them a 10-9 lead coming out of a time out.   Jesuit won the next face off which prevented the Huskies from coming right back like they had been doing for most of the half.  Again, Jesuit’s offense creates a great opportunity and Ryan Brady made a great shot.  McMahon made an even great save, however, and kept the deficit at just one. With 4:25 left Brady intercepted a clearing pass from McMahon and created a two on zero opportunity for Jesuit.  Somehow, McMahon came up with yet another monster save! Jesuit could have easily had a three goal lead at this point if it weren’t from some great goaltending by Hagerty. Some sort of altercation occurred which was never explained to the press box.  But, there were penalties on both teams and the extended officials time out to sort out everything appeared to favor the Huskies as they came out playing faster.  Hagerty D-Pole, Frank Cullen, took the ball from deep in his own zone and ran down the field.   The Jesuit defense favored the dangerous Hagerty attack forcing Cullen to take the shot.  He did and it found the back of the net to tie the game at ten. With just over two minutes left in the game Hagerty calls a time out.  When the whistle blew Marshall had the ball at the top of the box and the Jesuit defense, which had been solid all night, seemed confused.  Marshall just trotted down the left side alley and shot a nice, low, left handed shot that was barley contested to give the Huskies their first lead of the game since the opening minutes at 2:17 left in the fourth. A few seconds later another Hagerty D-Pole flashed some offensive power as Jimmy Kurilla ran the ball down the field. Not to be out done by Cullen, he too buried his shot in the back of the net for the back breaker at 2:01 left in the game. The Hagerty defense stood tall for the remaining two minutes and Jesuit was unable to put together a serious threat as time expired on one of many fantastic games that took place Friday night. When we asked Hagerty head coach about the adjustment to the ride in the second half he told us there was really no adjustment. “The biggest thing I told the boys is that we know we can ride and we know what we are capable of.  That is causing turnovers and pushing tempo.  But in the first half we refused to do that.  We let them win every hustle play and every ground ball.  But these kids wanted to practice tomorrow and they decided to fight for it.  It wasn’t really an adjustment in terms of strategy, it was really just them “getting off the bus.” Next up for Hagerty will be Lake Highland Prep.  The Highlanders defeated Lake Brantley 7-4.  The game is scheduled for Tuesday at Hagerty with a 7:00 pm face off. Be sure to follow us on Twitter @FloridaLX as we will be giving live updates from Tuesday’s games.