St. Andrew’s wears down Benjamin, 16-6

PALM BEACH GARDENS — Just four games into the season, St. Andrew’s boys’ lacrosse team already looks like it’s in midseason form.

Buoyed by a 7-0 second quarter run, the Scots raced past Benjamin 16-6 in nondistrict matchup between two of Palm Beach County’s premier programs.

St. Andrew’s (4-0) had three players record hat tricks, with seniors Nick Iznaga, Tito Thompson and Mark Heatzig all notching three goals apiece. Owen Bezick and Carl Klepper both scored two goals in the victory.

“I’m very happy,” said St. Andrew’s coach Tony Seaman. “I thought we came out a little more relaxed then we did in the first three [games]. We played lacrosse and enjoyed it and we shot the ball really well today.”

In Saturday afternoon’s contest, which was played at Benjamin’s lower school campus due to tornado damage the upper school’s game field took on Jan. 23, the Buccaneers came out strong in the opening quarter. Behind two goals from Blake Erdmann, Benjamin (3-1) and St. Andrew’s ended the first quarter tied 4-4.

Momentum rapidly shifted in the ensuing frame as the Scots began to assert control. The Scots ripped off three goals in a 1:10 stretch, highlighted by a sensational backhanded goal by Bezick in front of the net to give St. Andrew’s a 7-4 lead midway through the quarter.

St. Andrew’s, which dominated at the faceoff “x” and kept getting additional possessions, scored four more goals to give the team a 11-4 lead heading into the break.

“We started off slow, but that’s kind of the team we are,” said Iznaga. “We kind of run out the other team this year. We’re really in shape and we were running them out until they’re tired. I think we hit our stride in the second quarter and really just shut them out.”

The Scots ran the lead up to 16-4 in the third quarter before Benjamin scored to snap the team’s 12-0 run.

Benjamin, which reached the state semifinals last season before falling to eventual champion St. Thomas Aquinas in triple overtime, was out of rhythm for nearly the entire game. Dealing with a handful of injuries and trying to replace a number of key starters from last season, the Bucs struggled to generate much offense and were uncharacteristically sloppy with the ball. Erdmann finished with a team-high three goals on the afternoon.

St. Andrew’s will host Oxbridge Academy on Tuesday night in a rematch of last season’s regional quarterfinal, which the ThunderWolves won 8-7.