thanks to Jeff Horwitz for the pictures!   It was certainly a playoff atmosphere last night in Ft. Lauderdale on the Pine Crest campus . . . the stands were full with fans from both sides.  The sun was receding over the stadium horizon and the players were tensed for action. And in a remarkable touch of karma, the 7:10 train came through as the game clock ticked to 7:10 remaining in the first quarter . . . it really did! And when David Tescher took Cody Shaman’s pass on the low left side with 8:43 left in the second and deposited it into the far side Pine Crest had taken a 5-3 lead, running off 4 goals in the first 3:17 of the second period. At that point the stands started to shake as the home crowd made foot stomping a class requirement. And at that point Stoneman Douglas showed those in attendance that their lofty state ranking was no fluke.  

  In a span of time running from 5 minutes to go in the half to the first minute of the fourth quarter Stoneman put on a form of offensive efficiency and defensive strangling that was as majestic as the flight of their mascot as they scored ten straight goals to make it 13-5 early in the fourth. Shooting accuracy?  Check. 13 of 17 shots hit the cage in the 2nd and 3rd.  Nine of the 13 finding the cage. Ball movement?  Precise, fast and looking like the 1970 NY Knicks.  Hit the open man.  And that open man finished.  The fast break was really on the same page. 7 PC turnovers in the third as clearing became a chore.  And an earlier bug-a-boo hit too.  When PC struggled this year it was usually due to the speed of the team they played and the match-up problems it gave their defense.  And Stoneman has plenty of it, which ended up with their being able to break down the defense and when the slide came they took advantage of the open player.  I didn’t count ground balls but Stoneman must have won that battle, particularly in the midfield in the 2nd and 3rd and a number of those were quickly transitioned into odd man chances that Stoneman buried. Pine Crest’s terrific offensive talent was able to click early and ran some nice off-ball movement as well as finish but as the game went on they ended up having to work harder to find those looks and had to rely on individual dodging more.  They were able to take advantage of their EMO opportunities in the second with that ball movement and off-ball cutting. A little while ago I asked local fans to circle Friday, April 17th on their calendar for Stoneman hosting Saint Andrew’s. Now, I’m telling you. Don’t miss that one.  

  Stoneman’s Blake Israel opened the scoring at 8:46 of the first by going down the middle on a fast break and from about 12 yards out beat PC goalie Patrick Haley between the legs.  Israel followed that up at 4:12 on another fast break as he went down the right alley and bounced one high in to the left corner.  At 2:19 Matt Urban got one back for PC as he took Tescher’s behind the net feed up top and was able to step down and hit the low left corner with the right hand.  Austin Figas made it 3-1 at 1:10 as he dodged down the left alley and hit the top right corner with the left hand and we went to the second that way. Early in the second AJ Ferraro was assessed a 2-minute non-releasable for the way he went through a screen and Pine Crest took full advantage of the opportunity.  At 11:25 Noah Dearman took Tescher’s up top feed in the middle of the defense and he was able to hit the low left corner.  Then at 10:04 PC tied it up at 3 as Zach Smith worked the left wing, split two defenders and finished with a spin move and a low shot.  Just after the penalty expired PC took the lead at 9:37 as Tescher found Chris Dunne cutting in from right GLE and his up top pass found him all alone on the crease for 4-3.  And only 54 seconds later scored on the play mentioned above and here we were at 5-3.    

  And then this happened:   4:50 – Hunter Bell cutting down the right alley and taking a Tyler Gaffney feed from behind, finishing to the top left 3:14 – On EMO Ryan Brodskey fed on the right wing from behind by Bell for the step down 2:42 – Max Buckner unassisted off the curl from behind the right side 0:53 – On another EMO, Brodskey picks up a loose ball near midfield and beats everyone to the right alley, finishing with a low shot 0:10 – Bell beats the defender from right GLE to the crease and shooting low 8-5 at the half. 11:38 – Israel off the restart down the middle, low left corner 9:30 – Figas from Israel on the right alley with Figas finishing in the middle 8:04 – fast break (one of the best one’s I saw all season) as Buckner found Brodskey from the right wing and he finished with a rocket from the middle, drawing a flag 7:51 – on the EMO Figas feeding from up top to Buckner on the right wing and he hit the top left corner 12-5 after three.   9 goals in 8:59 of game action.  Marvelous to watch.  No matter who you rooted for.    

  The rest of the third played out quietly as the defenses settled down.  Early in the fourth, on another EMO, SD wheeled the ball around to the left and Bell went high to the short side on the left wing after taking the pass from Kevin Horwitz.  PC them mounted one last stand as they scored twice to make it 13-7.  Tescher on a solo effort from the right side, then behind the net before curling out and hitting the far side from the left wing, a play I have probably seen him do 15 times over the years and Dunne then took advantage of Cody Shaman’s fast break pass from the right alley as he cut from GLE to the crease and he finished with the left hand with 7:59 left.  But SD took all thoughts away at 5:47 as Brodskey went down the left wing, cut to the middle and got to the crease, drawing the penalty too. Tescher finished his day at 3:55 unassisted after picking up a loose ball on left GLE and edged up the wing before going to the far side.  Brodskey ended his day with his fifth at 3:04 and Smith closed out his terrific PC career on EMO with a curl to the right of the net with 1:12 to go.  The game was a little chippy late but the refs kept it in check and as the final seconds ticked off the Eagle bench was able to celebrate another step on their remarkable season. PC turned their season around from a 1-4 start and stormed to an 11-1 record until being eliminated and they will be heard from next season.  For their seniors, thanks for all the great efforts over the years . . . I’ve covered a number of your games . . . and best wishes for your college years and the future!   Team Statistics   Faceoffs: 13 each Shots:  PC 38 – SD 29 Shots on Goal:  20 each Turnovers:  PC 19 – SD 18 Penalties:  8 each   Individual Statistics   SD Ryan Brodskey  5G Blake Israel and Hunter Bell  3G/1A each Austin Figas and Max Buckner  2G/1A each Sam Bailen, Kevin Horwitz and Tyler Gaffney  1A each   PC David Tescher  3G/3A Zach Smith and Chris Dunne  2G each Matt Urban and Noah Dearman  1G each Cody Shamon  1A   Goalie Jason Wyner made 11 saves for SD and Patrick Haley made 5 saves for PC   Thanks to Coach Harris and Coach Burton for talking to me before and after the game!