So much for my preseason ranking of Jupiter . . . The question coming in was could their kids step up and replace three graduated All-Americans. Of course, there was one coming back . . . and boy did he show that his All American selection was not only justified, but also should have been unanimous if it wasn’t. In the three-plus years of writing for FLN I have my own personal Mount Rushmore of games . . . The Vero-Benjamin playoff game in 2013.  The riveting final between SA and LHP that year. And this one gets added to the mix.   A number of years ago we had the cultural kick of Austin 3:16.  Without getting into that in detail we came close last night . . . Scots 3:12 . . .   I believe that was captured here.   48 seconds into overtime Jupiter felt the sting of a bad bounce.  It’s kind of hard to describe since I have never seen a play quite like it. There must be something about this field when these two teams meet.  Last year’s playoff game had a play where Jupiter Goalie Viper Scheele was victimized by a bad outlet pass in the second quarter.  And the pass found the stick of Davis Diamond all alone near the net for the easy goal. There are times when you really wonder if the lacrosse Gods are playing with you. Overtime, scramble in front, SA’s Matt Adams shoots on net, Viper makes the save and the ball floats up high in the air . . . and only one player tracked the arc. Davis Diamond. 10 feet in front. One on one. Ball game. There was a movie made many years ago called The Gods Must Be Crazy.  Had nothing to do with lacrosse.  Except it would have been the perfect intro to a highlight reel for last night. When these teams get together . . . stuff happens.                Notwithstanding the ending, this was an outstanding contest. Before the game Jupiter Coach Danny Loftus mentioned a target on faceoff percentage.  He didn’t get there.  If he did this result likely is reversed. I have to admit that even after seeing Jupiter manhandle their opposition this year I had some doubts since their schedule this year has so far played out weaker than it looked before the year started.  Those doubts were magnified some after seeing the Jensen Beach score. After seeing how SA has demolished pretty much everyone, including their dominant road win over IMG, I was worried I was going to see another easy win. Those doubts were not justified. And now the question is just how high do I rank Jupiter?  They have nine games left and only one is really a gimme.  After playing #1 last night they have left: #2, #3, #4, #5, #8, #9, #12, #13 5 of those on the road.  If John Houseman were still around he might well have intoned “They’ve EARNED it”.                The game itself was played in front of a large crowd as many Jupiter fans made the trip down I-95. The game started out in SA’s favor. At 9:24 the Diamonds teamed up as Davis found Nick on the crease from left behind for the easy finish and at 6:44 it was 2-0 as Nick found Nick Iznaga up top from right GLE and Iznage absolutely lasered one pretty much past Scheele’s head high in the middle of the cage and it looked like I was seeing a familiar script.  But with 55 seconds left Jupiter scored a key goal as they took advantage of a fast break (one constant theme of the game that completely surprised me was how fast Jupiter’s midfield was, I didn’t see that in the previous game I covered . . . and it didn’t hurt that Scheele was hitting the breakout pass in stride) as long pole Mac Salter found Michael Dean on the right wing and he found the high short side to make it 2-1 after one. That goal ignited a run for Jupiter as they held SA scoreless from the 6:44 mark of the first until 9:05 was left in the third and Jupiter’s offense took advantage.  At 10:36 the game was tied at 2 as Kal Stampar fed Denver Aranda on another fast break and Aranda took advantage of the step down opportunity to go low left.  Just 63 seconds later, again on a fast break, Ian O’Connor took Aranda’s feed on the left side and found the low right corner for 3-2.  Less than two minutes later the fast break worked again as Dean finished off the 3 on 2 break on the right crease from O’Connor and it was 4-2.  Then with 37 seconds left, on one of SA’s two penalties in the quarter (the teams combined for three total in the game . . . a pleasant change from so many games I’ve seen) Tanner Gabriel finished off a wheel to the left off Kevin Justice’s feed and that made it 5-2 at the half. Not exactly what SA has been used to this season. But when you have won your games going away all year you sometimes need someone to land a haymaker to get your attention.                It wasn’t a water cannon they turned on but they did grind away and much of the damage was done by Peter Dykas, who went from featured attackman early last season to dodging middie this year.  At 9:05 he dodged in from the left wing to the middle and found the high left side, ending the scoreless drought after 21-plus minutes.  Then at 4:18 he dodged down the right alley and his bounce shot to the left side kicked over Scheele’s stick for 5-4.  With less than a minute left Iznaga was given too much space on the low left after the Xavier McCormack feed and his shot went top right corner to send it to the fourth tied at 5. The first five minutes of the fourth was back and forth until Alex Derrico gave Jupiter the lead back at 7:14 as he worked the left wing, with his shot going low.  SA regained the lead with two goals within six seconds.  At 5:19 Matt Adams took advantage of a chasing Jupiter defense to find Dykas on the top right wing and Dykas stepped into one that hit the low left corner.  Just 6 seconds later SA’s FOGO king Gable Braun (18 for 20) popped one forward and finished himself as Scheele got a piece but wasn’t able to stop it.  Justice then tied it at 7 with 1:57 left on a dodge down the middle and a left hand low left shot that SA goalie Nick Ferraro moved late on. With 45 seconds left Joey Bretz, who played a terrific game along with the other Jupiter long poles, was called for holding, setting up the efficient SA EMO for the dagger, but solid positioning kept SA outside and Jupiter was going into the overtime with momentum. Of course, momentum doesn’t work if you don’t have the ball, and after Braun again won the faceoff SA did not relinquish control, and as mentioned above, David Diamond ended this masterpiece. Sometimes the champ has to get back off the canvas to squeak out the split decision. I felt like grabbing the microphone in the booth and asking for the fans to stand and applaud. Afterwards I went home and caught a few minutes of the GOP debate . . . no contest where the fireworks were greater . . . Thanks kids! Let’s do it again sometime this year.   SA is back in action tonight as they host West Boca and Jupiter travels to Oxbridge for a Tuesday matchup.                  Team Statistics   Faceoffs:  SA 18-2 Shots:  SA 41-18 Shots on Goal:  SA 25-13 Turnovers:  Jupiter 20-19 Penalties:  SA 2-1   Individual Statistics   SA Peter Dykas  3G Nick Iznaga  2G Davis Diamond and Nick Diamond  1G/1A each Gable Braun  1G Matt Adams and Xavier McCormack  1A each   Jupiter Michael Dean  2G Denver Aranda, Kevin Justice and Ian O’Connor  1G/1A each Tanner Gabriel and Alex Derrico  1G each Kal Stampar and Mac Salter  1A each   Thanks to Coach Seaman and Coach Loftus for talking to me before and after the game