SI 14 Foothill OC 8

SI overwhelmed the Foothill - Orange County Knights last evening, despite sloppy play (on both O and D) by the 'Cats. LaxPower had SI favored by 2 in this Intersectional contest, but a couple of runs – one in the first half, one in the second – kept the Foothill Knights at bay. The contest took place at Oak Park High School, in the LA suburbs, where an earlier game between two local teams (Oak Park and Calabassas) provided extra spectators at the main event.

Multiple goal scorers in last night's contest included: Joe Lang, Peter Doyle, Chad Cohan, Matt Emery, and JW McGovern, and these five scored all of SI's goals. In other words, the usual suspects performed well. Will McKee, SI's lauded FO Middie, encountered a terrific young Freshman Knight and roughly split the match at the FO X. Cullen Vincelette continued to impress when asked to perform as "the human clear." Excellent in his role this year as a D middie!

I have come to be a big fan of the SI poles. They gave up eight goals last night – more than any game this season. I attribute this, in part, to a rare sloppy night in clearing and, in part, to the high-speed offensive play of the Knights in unsettled situations.

St. Ignatius is now 18-0 on the season, with only two regular season games and, likely, two conference playoff games remaining. At this point in the season, with this team's record, every game is a big game. This afternoon's game against Torrey Pines is no exception. Torrey Pines comes into the contest with an 11-3 record, with only a single in-state loss (7-9 to traditional defensive juggernaut La Costa Canyon) and two out-of-state losses to big-time east Coast programs, Deerfield Academy and Darien, CT High School. Only LCC was able to hold Torrey Pines high-octane offense to a single digit goal performance. Best of luck to the 'Cats the rest of this season!

In recent memory, the only SI lax team to have an 18-0 record was the magnificent 2007 squad and they played only eighteen games that season. I'm sure the 2007 'Cats are rooting for you!