The first time I heard the term ‘cardiac’ used in a sports context it was the 1975 St. Louis Cardinals in the NFL, the ‘Cardiac Cards’.  Jim Hart at QB, Terry Metcalfe at RB, Mel Gray at WR and a host of other talented players, including the infamous Conrad Dobler (for my younger readers who might follow pro wrestling a little . . . Ric Flair was not the dirtiest player in the game, Dobler retired that moniker years ago).  They went 11-3 that year in the regular season and played 8 games decided by one score, going 7-1 in those games.  The term has morphed into a more widely used one today, ‘cardiac kids’. Coach Brian Johnson of West Boca used it with me last night after the game and given how his season has gone it’s a fair label.  Of their 6-2 record three of the wins were by one goal and one by two.  When we covered their district game last year (The War For Four) we noted how learning to win the big game is almost like an acquired taste, one that is learned organically.  Last year’s disappointment has certainly helped to craft this year’s winning record, as the schedule is certainly tougher.  They are still not at that consistent higher level though, as the game itself showed, as well as the two losses where the final score was not close. But lacrosse is a unique sport to highlight a cardiac experience.  The normal ebb and flow of the game gives it the ability to change momentum multiple times and that itself can give off a cardiac feel.  Last night was an interesting look at the middle rung of Florida lacrosse.  Neither of these programs are in a position to challenge for a state title but they are also not also-rans or pushovers.  There are quality players on both teams that can make any roster in the state, if not the nation.  As with so many other similar programs depth is an issue and the results tend to follow how well the star players perform.  But match two similar teams together like we did last night and the result is pretty much likely to be what we saw last night. First I’d like to highlight a player who did not figure directly in the scoring but certainly had a major impact on the game, St. Edward’s LSM . . . and FOGO . . . and EMO wing man . . . and takeaway artist . . . and . . . well I doubt he drove the bus too . . . Danny Walsh, a Mercer commit, who fits into that category I so cherish of top notch players who I’ve never written about before, but should have.  Two years before Terrell Sands played the position at St. Ed’s well enough to land a spot on Division One High Point (to the point . . . sorry for the pun . . . that he is now a solid contributor and starter for HPU as a sophomore) and I suspect young Mr. Walsh paid close attention during practices back then.  I’ll look forward to see if you become another in a long line of Florida-bred LSM’s that make an impact at the next level. Only nine players actually hit the score sheet I kept, four for West Boca and 5 for St. Ed’s and given the amount of ball possession by player that hardly turned out to be a surprise.  Each offense worked hard to find certain looks and the team that executed better was the one that gained the momentum.  Unfortunately that also revealed one issue that two teams that are not deep tend to face in certain games . . . the one that makes the last mistake sometimes loses the game. And that was exactly what happened last night as something as simple as a dropped pass up top during a man-up situation in the last minute of play led to a fast break the other way that resulted in, while not technically a short-hand goal basically was that, with 27 seconds left to play and that was the game winner. And while one team went home happy with their fortune, another unfortunately had to endure a lengthy ride back home under the overriding thought of what should have been . . . as so many high school sporting events come down to. At least there is another day and another game to look forward to, but the feeling doesn’t dissipate until Mr. Walsh gets to take the next faceoff . . . at Benjamin . . . I’ll ask up there is he wins it . . .                The game started with St. Ed’s jumping out in front at 10:50 as Gage Bartosch worked the left wing before dodging to the middle and hitting the low right corner with his right hand.  Then at 7:36 Bartosch split the double team and when the slide came he found Mason Heim alone on the left crease and Heim was easily able to put it home for 2-0.  Less than two minutes later, on EMO, West Boca’s Grant Telford and Steven Santoro teamed up (which in many ways was the base WB offense all game long . . . both a blessing and a curse) as Santoro’s pass from the left wing to up top saw Telford hit the top left corner for 2-1.  At 4:21 the lead went to 2 as Josh Hurwitz and Josh Pusser teamed up as Pusser cut down the middle and Hurwitz hit him in stride from the top right wing for the goal.  SE then extended the lead to 4-1 at 2:37 as Bartosch beat the defense from up top down the right alley and Pusser cut in behind the slide from the right wing and finished with the left hand to make it that score after one. Momentum change number one then occurred as WB held St. Ed’s scoreless for the second and third quarters and that left plenty of time for WB to take over as St. Ed’s was held to only one shot on goal in both of those quarters as WB dominated possession time. 12 seconds into the second WB cut it to 4-2 as Telford won the faceoff backwards, won his own groundball, beat the defenders to the outside and cut down the middle before hitting the low left corner with the shot.  With 3:50 left the lead was cut to one as Troy Weiss was able to work from the middle down the right alley before beating St. Ed’s goalie Kevin Murphy between the legs and at the half it was a one-goal game. With 7:55 left in the third WB tied it up as Santoro worked the right wing, spun to his left hand and his shot hit the top left corner.  81 seconds later WB took their first lead on EMO as Telford took advantage of a delay of game call against St. Ed’s as he took a feed in the middle, split two defenders and found the low left corner.  The lead stretched to 6-4 at 2:07 as Telford again beat a double team down the middle and this time finished with his left had and that’s where we entered the fourth. Cue momentum swing number two. After a back and forth start to the fourth St. Ed’s cut the lead to one at 6:55 as Hurwitz found Bartosch on the left wing with a right wing skip pass and Bartosch lasered one into the top right corner.  2 minutes later we were tied again as Bartosch found Ritter Marchant on the top left wing from left GLE and his step down hit the high short side for 6-6.  And only 93 seconds later St. Ed’s took the lead back as Bartosch again found Pusser cutting to the middle from the blind side and his easy finish gave St. Ed’s the lead. Of course momentum had one more change to make . . . After another possession St. Ed’s tried to run clock but was not able to keep it going and with a little over a minute left Telford was able to beat his defender up top and from about ten yards out in the middle his low shot eluded Murphy and we were tied again. And fate intervened in a strange way.  The earlier delay of game call was a little questionable due to Telford rolling the ball away from the St. Ed’s player before they were able to restart the play in the right location and when the ball was not picked up in time the call was made.  If that sequence had not happened then the call that was made on Telford after the resulting last minute faceoff might well have not been called.  Possession was given to St. Ed’s as Telford again rolled the ball away and this time the refs did make the call, setting up the St. Ed’s man up mentioned above. And then that last mistake occurred, sending West Boca going the other way and the ball eventually found it’s way from Aaron Deen to Santoro down low on the right crease and after a few stick fakes it was in the back of the net for one of the more improbable finishes of the year . . . or as young Mr. Telford’s mom Pam (video enclosed) might say ‘game, set, match’ . . . A last second shot fell short and momentum finally went to sleep. And again we get to see why watching this sport is like riding the roller coaster.   Both teams are back in action Friday as they both travel to Top 10 teams.  West Boca travels to state #1 Saint Andrew’s for a district game and St. Edward’s travels to Benjamin.   Team Statistics   Faceoffs:  St. Ed’s  12-7 Shots:  West Boca  35-18 Shots on Goal:  West Boca  16-12 Turnovers:  St. Ed’s  22-19 Penalties:  4 each   Individual Statistics   West Boca Grant Telford  5G Steven Santoro  2G/1A Troy Weiss  1G Aaron Deen  1A Tyler DeVita made 4 saves   St. Edward’s Gage Bartosch  2G/4A Josh Pusser  3G Mason Heim and Ritter Marchant  1G each Josh Hurwith  2A Kevin Murphy made 8 saves   Thanks to Coach Brian Johnson and Coach Doug Bailey for talking to me before and after the game.