No. 17 PBA Tops Miami to Win MCHS College Classic

STUART, Fla. –– Competing the the second annual MCHS College Classic, Palm Beach Atlantic (5-0) used timely scoring to outlast the University of Miami, 14-11. The Hurricanes (1-4) battled from behind from the start, erasing a 7-2 first quarter deficit to tie the game midway through the third quarter. PBA outscored Miami 6-3 from that point on, securing the key victory.

The Sailfish struck first on a Joe Ciringione (Merrick, N.Y./Sanford H. Calhoun) goal from Dave Schultz (Annapolis, Md./St. Mary's). Ciringione led the 'Fish in scoring, finishing with four goals and two assists. Junior transfer Dominic Scalzo (Webster, N.Y./Webster Thomas) notched the second goal and then assisted another Ciringione goal, increasing the Sailfish lead to three.

Following Miami's first goal of the game, Schultz scored unassisted on a dodge from the left side at 5:13 to make the score 4-1. Less than a minute later, senior defenseman Justin Shockley (Simpsonville, S.C./Hillcrest) turned a clear into a cross-field bounce pass that found Jack East (Mableton, Ga./Whitefield Academy), who scored on the crease for a five goal lead. The assist was also the first point of Shockley's career. The Sailfish extra-man unit continued to impress, as Schultz found senior Ryan Talks (Palm Beach, Fla./St. Andrew's) on the crease for a 6-1 lead.

At 0:55 of the first quarter, junior Colin Price (Fairfax Station, Va./Lake Braddock) scored on a 14 yard low-to-high shot to give Palm Beach Atlantic a 7-2 advantage. One Sailfish goal (Scalzo) is all PBA mustered in the second quarter; the Hurricanes outscored the 'Fish 3-1 and entered halftime trailing 8-5.

In the third, Miami continued to keep momentum, scoring three times in less than ten minutes and tying the game at eight. Another Schultz-to-Talks man up connection broke the tie at 4:24 of the third, giving PBA a lead they would never relinquish. The next goal came from Joe Ciringione, who scooped up a ground ball at midfield and out-sprinted his defender to the goal, scoring one-on-one and extend the lead to 10-8. Another Ciringione goal put Palm Beach Atlantic ahead 11-8.

In the fourth quarter, all three Miami goals scored were matched by a Sailfish answer, including two Bobby Hantske (Annapolis, Md./Southern) unassisted goals. Sophomore CJ Lucarelli (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier) registered two shots in the final quarter, barely missing both times.

Palm Beach Atlantic is back on the field this Sunday at 2:00 p.m. against No. 22 Kennesaw State University (1-5) in the first game of the 2013 Sailfish Shootout. Follow Palm Beach Atlantic men's lacrosse on Twitter (@PBALacrosse) for live-score updates of all Sailfish games this season.

Game Notes:

– Freshman LSM Tranard Cannon and sophomore midfielder Abel Cartwright were not available for the Sailfish against Miami.

– Despite the 14-11 victory, UM still leads the series 6-2, all-time. Both wins have come in the past two seasons for PBA (the Sailfish won 16-11 in 2012).

– The Sailfish are currently ranked No. 17 overall in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse MCLA Coaches Poll (Week 4). This is the highest Palm Beach Atlantic has ever been ranked.

– 14 goals is PBA's lowest scoring output of the season.

– Palm Beach Atlantic finished 19/28 on face-offs (67.9%).

2013-02-26