Lake mary won the opening face off on a procedure call and wasted no time getting things rolling  :39 seconds into the game Lake Mary senior, Josh Marmetschi got the Rams on the board first. Ponte Vedra won the face off and showed an open look, forcing LM into adjacent slides.  The PV attack pushed hard from X took a nice shot on the drive but Chandler Harrison was up for the task and made a nice save. Ponte Vedra pressured the Rams hard throughout the first quarter.  They rode hard and their defense really pushed out on man to man defense when Lake Mary was trying to get some settled offense going. With 5:45 left in the first PV was called for a slash and was assessed a two minute non releasable penalty and it looked like a good opportunity for Lake Mary. But Christian Nehrling got a great take away on the man down and ran the fast break. The shot missed but PV got a very fast restart and caught the Rams defense napping when Garrett Boyle made a quick pass to Cody Legeza to tie the game at one. The first quarter ended with the score tied at one each.  But not only the score was even, both teams had six shots.  Lake Mary won 2 of the 3 face offs, and the Rams turned it over five times to PV’s four. Ponte Vedra won the face off to start the second quarter and kept the ball for the first 2:45.  The got one good shot on the possession but eventually turned it over to Lake Mary.  The Rams did the same thing at the other end and got a nice shot off but failed to back it up and it went back to PV. The first six minutes of the second quarter flew by with both teams controlling the ball but facing stiff defense.  With 6:21 remaining in the half the score was still tied when Zach Nash got a take away for the Rams and Lake Mary went to work quickly in the 1-4-1 set. Marmetschki dodged and Curt Sisco made a nice cut behind the slide and took the feed.  With 6:00 left in the half he gave the lead back to the Rams. Lake Mary won the Face Off and killed the next three minutes of the half and finished the possession  with a nice shot and a great save by Peaks.  PV went to work on the offensive end and things got a little weird to end the half.  Legeza took a shot that missed just wide and appeared to back up the shot but the call went the other way and Lake Mary got the ball.  Lake Mary took possession and appeared to be working for the last shot of the half but with :50 seconds left the referee saw a ward and gave it back to PV. Then, not to be finished yet, the ball became loose and in the scramble for the ball a Lake Mary player was called for a trip at the midfield line with :13 seconds left in the half.  Ponte Vedra called a timeout and we expected they would hold the ball to retain possession in the second half.  But Lake Mary was not on that plan and forced a quick turnover to get the ball and hold it themselves to secure possession to begin the second half. The second quarter was just as even as the first.  PV had five shots and LM had four.  Both teams won one face off and both teams had few turnovers (3 for PV, 2 for LM.) Lake Mary was able to kill the penalty to start the second half but after that things began to turn in the direction of PV.  2:00 minutes into the half Lake Mary was flagged for a slash.  Cody Legeza and Miles Silva made it look easy Silva finished off the feed and scored in only :13 seconds.  Shortly after that LM was flagged again  and PV ran the same play from the opposite side, this time it was Eric Applegate with the finish to make it 3-2. Ponte Vedra took the lead and had yet to score in 6 on 6 play.  Their first was scored man down and the other two were both EMO. For the next two minutes it was back and forth play with solid defense dominating both ends of the field until Lake Mary committed an unforced error on a clear and PV  made the most of it with 6:54 on the clock when Legeza scored out of unsettled transition as Ben Buchanan hit him with a pass. Lake Mary won the face off and called time out but the Rams seemed to be feeling a little pressure down by two with the third quarter ticking away and tried to force a feed inside.  PV knocked it down and hit Miles Silva on the Fast break to make it 5-2.  With just under four minutes left in the third Lake Mary settled down and had a good solid possession.  The Rams eventually drew a slashing call and Curt Sisco converted with a long, low, hard shot from near the restraining line to make it 5-3. A few minutes later Lake Mary managed to get a take away and worked the fast break themselves where Zach Gussman finished to make it 5-4. With only seconds left in the third an official managed to see yet another ward against Lake Mary and gave the ball back to PV.  PV took advantage and pushed the transition hard off of the restart.  As time expired in the third Chandler Harrison made a huge save to keep the Rams in it. The third quarter really went Ponte Vedra’s way in goals and turnovers.  Lake Mary turned it over six times, several were do to fantastic play by PV’s Evan Weiner.  Lake Mary owned the face off X in the third winning all but one.  Lake Mary was able to out shoot the Sharks 7-5 but the Sharks were getting better looks, especially on the two EMO’s. The beginning of the fourth quarter was exciting early as Harrison made a save and came out of the goal to chase the ground ball.  He scooped the ball but was stopped and ended up behind the play with the goal wide open.  PV looked inside and centered the ball but a Lake Mary defender was able to knock it down and save the day.  The Rams came up with the ground ball and started a fast break the other way.  Collin Peaks made a huge save at the other end of the field that not many goalies could have made. Lake Mary went offsides but was able to kill the penalty but most of the play was in their end of the field to start the quarter.  Ponte Vedra had a man on the crease for most of the fourth quarter and the Sharks were starting to get the shots on goal.  In the first three minutes they took five shots and they were all on goal but Harrison had been up to the task and recorded five saves. At 7:45 remaining in the game Eric Applegate pushed the ball up from X and with a nice inside roll he scored over Harrison’s shoulder.  Ponte Vedra appeared to be the fresher team and wing play on the face off improved in the fourth leading to several face off wins for the Sharks, including the one following Applegate’s goal. Only :11 seconds after Applegate scored Miles Silva got his hat trick to make it 7-4.  PV won the face off again and just over a minute later Randolph took a feed from Boyle and made it 8-4.   The next few minutes featured good back and forth play, but it began to look like this one was Ponte Vedra’s to lose at this point. As time got short the intensity continue to crank up and Lake Mary was able to find enough to make one final push.  On a dangerous restart from the midfield line Lake Mary showed some great speed and got the ball to Marmetschka scored with 1:11 left to make it 8-5.  Lake Mary won the face off and with :36 left in the game Aaron Platt scored for the Rams to make it 8-6. It would be just a little too little however, and the Sharks advanced to the Elite Eight and will take on Maclay on Tuesday at Maclay. Ponte Vedra coach Tom West was impressed with the Lake Mary team.  “I thought Marmetschi, Harrison, and Sisco were phenomenal.  They were better than I thought.” “I thought they were very well disciplined.” My take aways from this game. These teams matched up well, and it unfolded much as we anticipated.  Both teams defenses were solid agains the other’s attack.  The game really hinged on the little things and the PV EMO, the fourth quarter face offs, and excellent shooting in the fourth were enough to make the difference. Evan Weiner had a huge third quarter, forcing several turnovers.  Lake Mary was getting some shots and winning face offs in the third.  If it weren’t for a few big defensive plays by PV, Lake Mary could have made it a very different game in that third quarter. Both goalies played great.  They took good care of the ball and made some big saves and neither goalie gave up anything soft.  All 14 goals were well earned in this one. This was not the best officiating I’ve seen in the play offs.  In fact, it was the worst.  Kids from all teams at this point in the season show up prepared and give their best.  Ref’s need to do the same thing.  I hope on Tuesday the best refs will show up to these games and be ready to bring it just as good as the kids and coaches.