I only wish this game was a different night . . . I so much want to see it. 1972 – Fischer-Spassky. When I was a youngster growing up in New York this chess match captured the attention of the country.  Front page coverage in the NY Times.  CBS Evening News recaps. After school I would run home to turn on the TV to the Public Broadcasting station and watch Shelby Lyman and his panel of experts analyze the moves made.  Back then the game was scheduled for 2 1/2 hours for each competitor to make his first 40 moves, and then the clock was turned off until the game was over.  Believe it or not, it was EXCITING to watch for many of us.  And when the series was over and the U.S. had it’s first World Chess Champion in a long time we all got a big kick out of it. And for the first time since writing these articles I get the same feeling going into a lacrosse game down here. Barron Collier versus St. Thomas Aquinas Lacrosse’s version of a chess match. Barron Collier, statistically the best defense in the state.  Probably the best defense even if stats weren’t kept. 51 goals against in 19 games.  2.68 goals against average per game. That’s not a misprint. That’s a better goals against average than FIFTEEN NHL TEAMS. 3 Shut Outs and 5 Games of 1 Goal Allowed. St. Thomas Aquinas, 132 goals scored in their last eight games.  16.5 goals per game. Almost 19 goals per game in their last 4 games, against solid competition. Hmmm . . . Something has got to give. Chess match. Barron Collier is known for playing a match-up zone.  If a team hasn’t seen it before it could take a lot to figure it out. But STA has played against it already. Barron Collier won that first game, but St. Thomas was missing RJ Curtin and Dillon LeGamma. No real advantage for Barron Collier. The game is going to be played out west.  The referees over there tend to let the teams play harder and call fewer penalties.  But the FHSAA might be assigning a crew that is not from that area.  Will that play a role?  What if BC gets called early for some plays that they are not expecting to be whistled for?  Could that play a role? Another facet of this chess match tonight. Sacrifice the rook for a knight and a pawn to get position . . . A few questions to ponder: Barron Collier trailed by 2 goals once in the game I saw against Jupiter earlier this year before losing by one.  Based on the scores for the year that might have been the ONLY 2-goal deficit they have faced ALL YEAR.  That’s extraordinary given how they play.  What if STA can jump out to a 2-3 goal lead early?  Can Barron Collier come back to win? They really haven’t had to all season. For St. Thomas, they have had their way recently by getting out to big leads in their late season win.  Will they stay patient against the BC zone early in the game instead of trying to overwhelm it with individual efforts?  And if they trail in the second half can they keep their spirits in the right place?  Sometimes you get so used to playing ahead you react poorly when trailing. How does this play out?  STA needs to be able to penetrate the match-up zone and find the open man on the rotation.  They have the wing play to nail long range step down shots from either side and I think that is how they must attack.  BC has not been favorable to teams that try to isolate and dodge and that is the trap that STA needs to avoid falling into.  On offense BC needs to find a way to capitalize on turnovers and fast breaks, which are likely to pop up during the flow of the game.  They failed to do so in their only loss of the season to Jupiter, when there were plenty of opportunities in the fourth quarter to take advantage of numbers in transition, only to throw the ball away. Goaltending will be paramount.  In a lower scoring game a key save might mean winning and losing.  But the face-offs, which STA has been excellent at, won’t play as big a role if the scoring is down. Put simply, BC needs to keep the scoring down and play their game.  STA needs to stay patient and take advantage of unsettled situations. Chess match. St. Thomas has the big names, Barron Collier has the team reputation. Should be about 40 moves deep.   Prediction?  Something tells me that STA will find a way to get enough goals this time around and avenge the regular season loss. One thing that we know can’t happen in this one . . . the players can’t agree to a draw. The only final result possible is Check Mate!