Above – FI’s Devan Marquis defends Nease’s Logan Smith-photo by Ray DimondaAttack Stephen Hemingway scored four goals and had two assists as Nease dominated the second half to pull away for an 11-5 win at Fleming Island Friday night. Three of the junior’s goals came in the first half,

helping the Panthers overcome an early two-goal deficit. The Panthers carried a 5-4 lead into the intermission despite a buzzer-beating goal by Fleming Island’s Will Yarbrough from the top of the box off of a feed from Hayden LaVangie. Fleming Island outshot Nease 18-16 in the first half. The turning point came midway through the third quarter when, with the score still 5-4, Fleming Island was called for using an illegal stick, resulting in a one-minute, non-releasable penalty—the second stick violation called against the Golden Eagles. Nease took advantage, first when Hemingway drilled a shot over Golden Eagle goalie Ryan Kelly’s shoulder off of a feed from Joey Oliveira, and again 28 seconds later when Thomas Higgins drove the left side and dumped the ball off to Oliveira for a quick flip into the net. In less than sixty seconds, the Panthers’ one-goal lead became a three-goal advantage, and Nease never looked back, outshooting the hosts 19-10 in the final two quarters. When Fleming Island pulled to within 8-5 at the end of the third quarter on a low pass from Alessandro Cook that Connor Dee was able to shovel across the goal line, Hemingway found Panther teammate Logan Smith between three Fleming Island defenders. Smith buried a wrist shot into the

lower right corner to end any realistic hope of a Golden Eagle comeback. Smith scored all three Panther goals in the fourth quarter. Brent Whiting and Alex Gooden also added scores for Nease, who improves to 5-2. The Panthers have little time to savor the victory, hitting the road again Saturday, March 15 for a noon game at Gainesville Oak Hall. Ryan Kelly, a sophomore, made 15 saves, including several quick deflections at close range, while LaVangie notched two goals for Fleming Island. The Golden Eagles fall to 3-4 after winning their first three games, and travel to Episcopal for their next game Tuesday, March 18 at 7:00 p.m.