Thursday night this reporter picked this game to cover for a specific purpose.  When I started covering games for this site last year it was really a year of getting my feet wet at it and the games I covered tended to be between the bigger names in our region because that was what appealed to me.  I made a conscious decision before the season started that because the game reports were favorably received that I would make a larger effort to try to see more schools, because I wanted to bring more publicity to programs that are looking to grow as well as wanting to highlight the kids and coaches who have been working so hard out of the limelight of the better known programs, as well as for my own purposes of improving my knowledge of the local scene.  This game fit two interesting storylines for me.  It allowed me to see how Casey Powell is impacting a North Broward Prep program that I could fairly call underemphasized in the past years and also see how a young program like Kings Academy is progressing.  Kings has only been playing varsity lacrosse for a few years and progressed from 2-11 in 2012 to 8-9 last season and was looking to potentially challenge for a District title this year, so they certainly fit the profile of what we at the site wanted to this season. For the first 59:55 of the game I was glad I did choose this game to cover.  Not because I saw two state title contenders.  The play was what you would expect in this situation.  Some really nice plays coupled with some choppiness and missed opportunities, coupled with the type of play that occurs when two squads that are not yet deep making mental mistakes when fatigued later in the game.  I was impressed with Kings’ set pieces as they led to a number of good scoring opportunities as well as a couple of NBP’s offensive talents.  Both goalies played well when challenged and the general tone of the game was crisp and hard-fought, with a very high level of effort. Which makes the last 5 seconds of the game so disappointing . . . I will give my take on that after the game recap because I want to make a few specific points about it.   I’ve made a conscious decision to not name the players involved because they are kids, and kids are not mature emotionally for the most part, and I hope that they take this write-up in the spirit it is intended. As a learning experience. The game started out with a first quarter that NBP wishes they could have back.  Controlling face-offs and with a substantial time of possession advantage they squandered many opportunities to jump out to a big lead.  NBP took 15 shots at goal in the first and only placed THREE of the 15 on goal.  Many were quality looks and if the shooting accuracy was better in the quarter and the half this game would have gone down to the wire, but it wasn’t and Kings took advantage to take a 2-0 lead after the first with two late goals.  Jonathan Neil put KA on top with 3:48 left from the right side of the crease first off a feed from the wing by Cortland Brigham and that was followed by Kyle Saccal’s unassisted tally off a left wing face dodge, with Saccal finishing from in front.  Two goals on four total shots in the first. NB got one back early in the second as Phil Gursahany scored unassisted on the man advantage, firing home a step-down bounce shot that eluded KA goalie Steven Grove at 9:30.  Kings responded with a 3-goal run, partly helped by 3 faceoff violations by NB as time of possession swung strongly towards KA.  At 7:22 Grayson Smith took a feed from behind the cage from Saccal on the right side and beat NB goalie Kaden Gaffney high-to-high to make it 3-1.  Less than two minutes later Brigham scored unassisted on a dodge from the middle on a stop and go move to make it 4-1 and Brigham followed up at 3:27 with his second, finding a soft spot in the middle of the NB defense, taking Nate Cannon’s feed and firing into the net to send the teams to halftime with KA holding a comfortable 5-1 lead.  KA outshot NB 17-5 in that quarter and the better accuracy paid off on the scoreboard. NB started off the 3^rd quarter quickly, trying to get back into the game.  At 9:36 Tyler Marshall scored off a fast break following a quick restart that caught KA trailing the play.  Marshall fired home a high-to-high shot from the left wing off Gursahaney’s pass to make it 5-2 and Marshall then followed up 43 seconds later unassisted on a curl from behind the left side of the goal, splitting a double team, to make it 5-3.  But KA settled down and at 4:58 Connor Monaco stretched the lead back to three, taking a well-placed back door feed from Neal and depositing it to make it 6-3 after three.  The statistics for the third were close and very reflective of the score. The 4^th quarter saw an early back and forth as the team’s traded the first 5 goals of the period as NB looked to catch up but KA’s greater experience helped them to keep the advantage and the lead never fell below three.  At 10:43 Brigham scored his third unassisted by dodging down the middle and scoring on a well-placed shot to the lower left side.  NB responded with Gursahaney’s behind the back tally from in front, off a nice look from right goal line extended by Kenny Lorden at 9:48 to make it 7-4.  KA responded with Cannon’s EMO strike as he found himself all alone in another soft spot, taking Saccal’s feed to make it 8-4 at 7:11.  NB responded again on Jake Fairbank’s lefty shot from the right wing, assisted by Gursahaney at 6:26, but that was as close as NB was going to get.  KA scored twice in 33 seconds to put the game away.  Neal scored off a fast break from Smith, capitalizing on a two on one down the left side at 3:20 and Brigham ended his night with his fourth off another fast break, from Saccal at 2:47.  NB’s Gursahaney finished up his team’s scoring 14 seconds later unassisted, firing in a left-handed shot after cutting in from the right wing.  KA then finished the game with a late score to make the final 11-6 with 4 seconds left. You will note I did not credit that last goal to a player.  The goal came off a restart with 5 seconds left with both team’s players basically standing around, figuring the player who picked up the ball, 15 yards from goal, would just hold onto it and let the final few seconds run off.  But the player decided to wind up and fire it on goal, and it did beat a goalie who wasn’t really focused on it.  I know all of the countervailing arguments: play to the final whistle, etc.  But that was totally unnecessary and just a kid being selfish. But I can excuse that as being within the spirit of the game. What I can’t excuse AT ALL was what transpired on the faceoff after it.  The NB FOGO pushed the ball out to the left wing and went chasing it.  The wing player for KA, seeing his head down, made no effort AT ALL to play the ball and leveled the FOGO.  No other way to look at it but a dirty, dangerous play.  PERIOD. When played well  this is a wonderful sport.  It does not need the worst of other sports to slip into it.  On and off the field. As The King’s Academy brings their program into “prime time” we hope they bring some prime time sportsmanship with them.