For those who wonder about the use of the term ‘Derby’ (pronounced ‘darby’ over there), I learned it from English broadcasters who used the term when an EPL game was being played by teams in the same city, such as Arsenal and Chelsea, etc.  It seemed to me to be a pretty neat sports term so I adopted it.  Of course, Oxbridge and Pine Crest are not in the same City, or even County, but as the two coaches are Head Coach and Assistant Coach of the Florida Launch I can stretch the meaning enough. Of course, given how closely they work together in the MLL, there’s not a whole lot that Stan Ross or George Harris don’t know about how the other thinks or game plans for. And the game played out that way too. The Thunderwolves; a name so obscure that even Wikipedia does not have an entry for it, although Colorado State University mentions the following:

“The thunderwolf was discovered in the Southern Colorado foothills in 1933. The species is thought to be indigenous only on the city of Pueblo’s beautiful horizon from the Spanish Peaks to the south to Pike’s Peak to the north.A regal and majestic animal, the thunderwolf has evolved into the wisest and strongest of all beasts. The thunderwolf is cloaked with hair as blue as Colorado’s skies, and with a mantelet of hair around its neck as white as Colorado’s snow-capped mountain peaks. Longer guard hairs, as red as Colorado’s rocky soil, abound throughout the white mantelet. Some say they have seen lightening bolts in the thunderwolf’s large blue eyes. Because it is an intelligent and inquisitive animal, the thunderwolf expands its knowledge and understanding of the environment daily. Although the thunderwolf exhibits a cooperative team spirit when hunting with the pack, it also is an individualistic thinker which helps the pack burst through paradigms when solving problems. One of the most distinctive characteristics of thunderwolves is their ability to form unusual partnerships with other species to protect the environment for the general good. Their excellent communication skills have led some observers to believe thunderwolves may be able to communicate to different species from other countries.”

Sounds like Brodie Merrill or Brian Spallina now that you think about it . . . if they were portrayed on the old TV show ‘Captain Planet’. And they were playing the Pine Crest PANTHERS yesterday.  A REAL animal. Anyhow . . . ————– The game played out out as a back and forth battle between two teams that were very well prepared for each other.  Through the first three quarters neither took more than a 2-goal lead and that was also back and forth, until the fourth quarter, when Oxbridge’s depth (Pine Crest has battled the injury bug all season) finally wore down PC in two key areas, on defense and at the face-off dot.  Although PC took the face-off battle 12-8 thanks to Quin Spey’s efforts, Oxbridge was able to win three key ones in a row during the fourth that gave the extra possessions necessary to go on the decisive run of the game, with 5 straight goals spanning the 3rd and 4th quarters to take a lead PC could not overcome.  On defense, OA was able to stretch the field late in the game and took advantage of their speed to get the looks they needed to pull ahead. Oxbridge shot themselves in the foot in the first half as they only hit the net on 9 of 20 shots while PC hit with 11 of 15 and a lot of the early ones were open looks that could have given OA a larger margin in the first, but PC hung in there and was able to take advantage to eventually take a 7-5 lead in the 3rd.  The game was played with a lot of intensity and was a lot of fun to watch.  OA’s offense ran a lot of patterns and set up good looks all game and PC was forced more into a dodging offense by strategy.  Both teams really know how they want to play and that usually means something to watch. PC was coming off a tough loss to Stoneman Douglas and Oxbridge was coming off a tough loss to Jupiter as both teams have strengthened the schedule to get themselves ready for the postseason.  PC has not yet gotten over the hump on the close games while OA has a couple of quality wins so far but the difference between them is not great. The first quarter ended at 3-3.  OA jumped out at 8:54 as Bobby Kilian scooped up a loose ball near the right crease side after OA missed some open looks and finished low.  PC’s Cody Shamon got that back just 15 seconds later as he dodged in from the right wing to the middle and hit the low corner with the left hand.  After some transfer of possessions OA scored twice late to open up a 3-1 lead.  Billy Zoeller took off down the middle of the defense, drifted towards the right alley and fired to the low left corner at 2:30 and 12 seconds later LSM Colin Hayek hit the same spot on a fast break.  But PC responded with two of their own in the last minute to tie it back up.  Noah Dearman curled from behind the left side of the net, spun right, and finished on the left crease, drawing a flag too.  PC capitalized on the EMO, with 3 seconds left, as Shamon, from the top middle, found Dearman in front all alone and Dearman placed it hip high to tie it. OA scored early in the second, at 11:03, as Tyler Jerd took a right crease feed from Zach Ranta on the right wing and he scored short side with the left hand.  PC responded at 9:43 as Austin Nero showed his foot speed down the middle of the field, running past defenders and going to the low left side.  Then PC took their first lead of the game at 5:42 as Dearman completed the hat trick on the EMO by dodging from the left wing to the middle, hitting the low right corner, and the teams went to the half with PC leading 5-4. At 10:15, the game was tied again as OA’s Jerd tool Kilian’s right wing pass on the crease and went to the low far corner.  Less than a minute later, at 9:28, Chris Dunne put PC back in front as he worked the left wing near GLE and spun right to the crease before finishing short side.  PC gained their biggest lead at 7:24 as Zach Smith, playing his first game of the season, dodged from the left wing to the middle and hit the low left corner from about 8 yards out, but then OA was able to turn the momentum around and pull out the victory.  The comeback started at 4:59 as Robert Bayless took off down the left alley and hit underneath the crossbar with the left hand and it was 7-6 after three. OA came out strong in the fourth as Liam Lisec tied the game at 10:14 on the EMO, taking Kilian’s behind the cage feed on the left wing and hitting the right upper corner.  At 8:56 OA took the lead for good as Skyler Saffer took advantage of a short stick defending as he worked the top before going down the left alley, hitting the far right corner.  Then at 4:58 Kilian replicated the move down the left alley and fired low between PC goalie Derek Ruosso’s legs (starter Patrick Haley has not played yet this year) for 9-7.  OA took their biggest lead at 3:10 as Lisec took advantage of another PC penalty, taking a Ranta top left feed on the wing and hitting the top right corner.  Smith got one back for PC at 2:54 unassisted as he again dodged to the middle but the next possession went awry as he passed up an open look to get closer and after the turnover OA was pretty much able to run out the clock for the 10-8 victory. A solid road win for Oxbridge and another frustrating close loss for Pine Crest to fall to 1-4, but with plenty of time to turn their record around and get ready for an appetizing district final with Stoneman if it comes to that. OA is back in action on Friday as state #3 Barron Collier comes to town while PC travels to Taravella on Thursday, which should be no trouble for them.   Team Statistics   Faceoffs:  PC 12-8 Shots:  OA 41 – PC 27 Shots on Goal:  OA 21 – PC 19 Turnovers:  PC 19 – OA 14 Penalties:  PC 4 – OA 2   Individual Statistics   Oxbridge Bobby Kilian  2G/2A Tyler Jerd and Liam Lisec  2G each Billy Zoeller, Colin Hayek, Robert Bayless and Skyler Saffer  1G each Zach Ranta  2A   Pine Crest Noah Dearman  3G Zack Smith  2G Cody Shaman  1G/1A Chris Dunne and Austin Nero  1G each   Ethan Randell made 11 saves for OA and Derek Ruosso made 11 saves for PC   Thanks to Coach Ross and Coach Harris for talking to me before and after the game!