NEWS

OH SO CLOSE: Miami fends off fourth quarter rally in 16-13 win over PBA

Wednesday, February 4th, 2009

Despite a strong performance, PBA fell to Miami, 16-13.

CORAL GABLES, Fla. –– Two highly potent offenses entered into a dogfight on Tuesday night, with Miami outlasting Palm Beach Atlantic 16-13. It's been one of the highest scoring games in 2009, with 29 total goals scored and both teams running-and-gunning up and down the field.

Coming into the game, there was no question that PBA was entering the contest as a much improved team. Riding a three game winning streak, the Sailfish were out to prove that last year's 13-2 loss in Coral Gables was a thing of the past.

In the first half, Miami started hot and took advantage of a nervous Sailfish defense. Their 8-2 lead in the second quarter harkened back to last year's match, but the PBA defense tightened up, only allowing one goal in a 16-minute stretch following. Meanwhile, the Palm Beach Atlantic offense heated up, scoring in droves and cutting the lead to 9-7.

From here, both offenses would battle back and forth, with Palm Beach Atlantic getting no closer. Junior Andrew Lockhart (Winter Park, FL/Winter Park) lead the 'Fish with five goals and one assist, while senior Lance Villio (Charlottesville, VA/The Covenant School) also had four goals. Other multiple point scorers were Jordan Jones (two goals, two assists) and Jayson Schmidt (one goal, two assists). In addition, crease defenseman Jay Shewan (Indianapolis, IN/Hertiage Christian) scored another goal to increase his goal scoring streak to two games.

Palm Beach Atlantic (3-1) will travel to Jacksonville this weekend, facing Georgia Southern University at 12PM on Saturday in their first divisional matchup. At 3PM, the Sailfish will meet a first-time opponent, the College of Charleston. C of C is looking to gain entry to the SELC in future seasons. On Sunday, PBA will meet a familiar foe, Jacksonville University, at 2PM.