The IMG National team won both of the home games on the schedule this season.  On Friday they hosted New Jersey’s Bergen Catholic.  Last season Bergen Catholic won 19 straight games to finish the season 19-1, only losing the New Jersey Group A Championship game to Delbarton in 2OT. Every time we get a chance to see two national powerhouse teams like this play we know we are going to be treated to some tough, physical, fast play and Friday was no exception.  Every check was thrown with meaning and every ground ball was physically contested.  And when we say physical we mean clean, hard, and fast.  To their credit, this officiating crew appeared to know how the game was meant to be played and it was refreshing to see the game the crew allow the game to be played correclty. The IMG National team features 16 NCAA commits (14 D1) and 8 post grad players.  All are very talented. The National team has mastered the unique offense of head coach Bill Shatz who teaches a very unique blend of indoor and field lacrosse.  The offense that appears to be a simple open set soon turns into a beehive off cutters, off ball picks, and well rehearsed rotations that often result in a wide open Tehoka Nanticoke (3g, 1a) or Ben French (6g,1a) on the doorstep. The first quarter was a back and forth battle that saw Ben French score the hat trick and Nanticoke score twice.  Max Smith was solid in the goal and showed some offense as he fired a great pass down field to Marc-Anointe Pion who found Ben French for a spectacular transition goal to give IMG a 5-3 lead.  Just when it looked like IMG was going to open it up, however, Bergen Catholic scored with just :09 left in the quarter to close the gap to a single goal. Early in the second quarter one of the stars of the game, Foster Cuomo (2g, 4a) scored to set the pace for IMG.  Smith followed it up with a giant save off the next face off and IMG really got going.  Five different players would team up to score 6 goals for IMG and give the Ascenders an 11-6 halftime lead.  A couple of penalties really hurt Bergen Catholic as IMG showed a deadly EMO with Nanticoke and Mitchell Laffin playing a little inside give and go that ended with Nanticoke scoring and making it look ridiculously easy. Bergen Catholic came out in the second half determined to slow down the fast paced offense of IMG and controlled the ball for the first three minutes of the half.  The result of that possession, however, was a save by Smith that quickly turned into another IMG goal.  This one by Laffin as Cuomo notched one of his four assists.  A three goal IMG run was stopped with a pair of scores by Bergen before IMG’s Nanticoke scored and drew a flag with :15 left in the quarter to give IMG a 15-8 lead at the end of three. Bergen opened the fourth quarter with a 3-0 run before IMG responded with a four goal run of their own and put the game out of reach.  The play of the game came late in the fourth quarter as Tehoka Nanticoke chased a loose ball to the sideline and made a miraculous pick up and pass back over his head as he dove out of bounds.  The ball hit Ben French right in the stick and he was able to make the finish and give IMG the 19-12 lead they would hold on to as clock expired. Foster Cuomo had 2g, 4a, Ben French finished with 5g, 1a.  Tehoka Nanticoke recorded 3g, 1a and Max Murdoch scored twice.  Rober Hudson, , Mitchell Laffin, Tyler Wilkinson, Drew Crain, and Tyler Liotta all scored once for IMG. IMG is now on a six game road trip.  The dropped a 20-19 game in OT to Army Prep yesterday and face another national power house, Don Bosco Prep today.  The IMG National’s season will culminate with a game against the Hill Academy on May 9th.