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#3 Benjamin With Early and Late Runs Defeats #2 Jupiter 10-5 Thursday

Written by Lee Roggenburg on . Posted in .
Thanks to Lisa Erdmann for the pictures!   Every year I circle this game on the schedule. Back Yard Brawl, Bunkhouse Stampede, Military Trail Mashup . . . whatever you want to call it. Of course, in this crazy year for the sport, there had to be a tinge of effect on this rivalry too. Thanks to a tornado. Originally scheduled for the Benjamin home field it was moved from there to Jupiter Community Park. And in some ways the game took on a surreal feel to it, based on the location, which definitely changed the atmosphere of the game. And once again, we got a look at life imitating art . . . or something close to it.     I woke up around 2:00am this morning, wide awake, and for some reason was full of things to write about for this game recap. For some reason the first thing that came to mind was the saying “from the absurd to the sublime” . . . but that’s not really an accurate saying after I Googled it.  It was more “from the sublime to the ridiculous”.  Both seem to go back to the 1700’s and mostly French literature, but the thought wasn’t too bad. There was both present last night.  Benjamin’s first half and fourth quarter and Jupiter’s third.  Benjamin’s shut down defense, holding Jupiter to an astonishing 14 for 41 shots at goal hitting the cage, while Benjamin hitting the cage 23 of 31 attempts.  Both goalies had terrific games.  Even the weather gets a big thank you . . . somehow the rain, which had gone through most of the afternoon, managed to stop around 6:15 and not appear again the entire game, albeit the wind cutting across the field was steady and a bit of a nuisance. We’ll get back to the sublime part of the game later . . . The absurd and ridiculous was kind of fun too.     First of all, the thought of two of the Top 3 teams in the latest poll playing their regular season game in a public park, with basically no benches or stands, in the middle of what I believe was 6 or 8 contiguous youth fields used by the JTAA Club program . . . with no restraining fences or nets anywhere in sight.  No working scoreboard. Time was kept on the sideline by cell phones . . . with a backup phone too.  Modern technology?  Or not?  Maybe the second backup should be a stop watch? Kind of absurd you would think Leading to this absurd thought: It’s a tradition on lacrosse teams that the freshmen, and even younger, members of the teams are charged with retrieving the lacrosse balls after the game . . . Oh boy. There was a collection of trees about 40 yards behind one goal and the closest fence in the other direction was about a Dustin Johnson drive and five iron away.  There’s no way all those used balls were retrieved.  I’m not sure how much a box of balls costs but it must have been about $100 extra that night.  And there will be some kids who walk to the park tomorrow that are going to wonder what those hard rubber balls they find are used for.     I stood on the side of the benches, a rare treat for me since most of the time I’m in a press box.  It’s a different game from the sidelines and an even more different one when you can hear the kids yelling for their teammates and the coaches barking instructions.  As you can imagine, given the rivalry, it was a little louder on the sidelines than say Coral Springs Charter and Piper . . . And one other interesting benefit to being on that sideline was I couldn’t hear any complaints by the fans about the refs . . . of course, given the weather conditions that might have muted some of the desire to complain. But you do hear the coaches . . . and both of these are kind of low key in how they do it.  More on the quiet brand of sarcasm.  Pretty refreshing actually.  Like Bill Murray in Stripes.  And the type of approach many coaches could learn from.  Sure there will be a few missed calls along the way but it was a very well reffed game last night and it didn’t affect the outcome at all.  And while the coaches got their points across it never was something a ref couldn’t live with. And that brought back a memory of the only other time I covered a JCP game, two years ago when Jupiter hosted Ponte Vedra there due to a spring of flooding in the town.  But we’ll keep that one between us ladies . . .     Perhaps the biggest indication of the importance of the game was the huge increase in media coverage . . . from me to three!  Wells was able to convince his editor to let him cover this one, even if a little outside his normal geographic region.  And lo and behold, we had the PALM BEACH POST at the game too! Breaking their two year absence streak at an actual live game! I got a hold of their editorial decision tree beforehand and knew this was a possibility since the normal assignments for the Sports page had no competition, hence the ability to send someone . . . Here’s what normally comes before lacrosse for the PBP: West Palm Century Village Mah Jongg Jubilee – Check!  Not until Friday Polo Chukker Clean the Field Training Session – Check!  Not until April 3rd Mar-A-Lago Pre-Easter Egg Roll Yoga Class – Check!  Not for another week . . . and maybe that one gets a boycott threat anyhow . . . So the PBP decided to slum it last night and send their best Sports writer! http://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports/high-school/early-late-scoring-flurries-carry-benjamin-past-jupiter-lacrosse Okay, not bad for a once every two year experience . . . a nice picture too. Now let’s see if they actually bother to cover the FHSAA Championship games this year.     Before the game the coaches were a little coy about the game.  Each understands that delicate balancing act with this type of District rivalry.  What really was the importance of the regular season game when they know a few weeks later it really is for keeps.  Only one of them each year goes to the FHSAA playoffs. You can say all you want about playing to win, sending a message, all the rest. But this is a game that always stands apart. Maybe more pride than anything else. Hope for no injuries. Try a few wrinkles. Until the first faceoff whistle blows. Then all that goes out the window as competitive juices turn up high. And once again the old feelings kick in and the next 48 minutes is all testosterone. Jupiter drew first blood . . . and that was all until the second half as Benjamin ran off the next 6 goals. A halftime regrouping led to a big Jupiter push as they came back with three goals in the third and the first one in the fourth to draw it to 6-5 but after a few possessions that ended without earning the tying goal it was Griffin Bowie with the big play in regaining momentum for Benjamin, and they rode that to a four goal scoring run to end the game. And the coyness kind of went away after the game. You can’t play these rivalry games and not expect that . . . So, first round to Benjamin.  Last year it was Jupiter winning the regular season game and Benjamin returning the favor in District. Some sleepless nights ahead for both coaches. I can understand that part of it.     49 seconds into the game Jupiter jumped out early as Kenny Cronin went down the right alley for the low left hand corner shot for 1-0.  Peter Reed continued his hot play for Benjamin at 9:48 as he went down the left alley and was able to get off a right hand shot that hit the top right corner for 1-1 and one minute plus later it was Reed again going down the right win and hitting the low left for 2-1.  At 4:09 it was 3-1 when Chase Farriss went down the right wing and found Blake Erdmann cutting across the middle of the front and he hit the cutter with the pass for the low put away.  With 3:02 left it was Christian Cropp finding Bowie on the low left from top left for the high short side shot and 28 seconds later it was 5-1 as goalie Austin Michels was able to pick out Farriss on the clear, hit him in stride, and Farriss had a clear path down the middle for the left mid high shot to end the first quarter. The only goal in the second was Benjamin’s, as Michael Buttelman found Ryan Kelly up top from behind the net for the step down that beat Jupiter’s Ethan Randell off the left hip for 6-1 at 5:08 to end the half. Jupiter came out in the second half with a higher level of intensity and Randell really got into a groove and that allowed Jupiter to chip away, even with the poor shooting, as they were able to control possession much of the quarter.  They finally broke through on EMO at 7:00 as Chris Radice took the Tanner Gabriel pass on the low right wing and hit the high short side for 6-2.  34 seconds after that it 6-3 as Benno Janssen used a swim move on the right wing, getting to the crease for the left hand low shot and just another 1:03 later it was 6-4 as Michael Dean found Gabriel on the top left from behind the net for the step down bullet to the right top corner and it was a game going into the fourth. At 10:24 in the fourth it was Radice taking a Gabriel feed on the left wing for an absolute low bullet and it was now 6-5.  Jupiter controlled the next faceoff but was not able to get one on goal (outside of the goal it was 2 for 12 in that period) and that’s when Bowie stepped up on the tough ground ball and with 7:20 left went down the left wing and beat everyone to the goal for the 7-5 lead.  Kelly then worked the top middle and spun right before firing past Randell with 5:59 left and the starch kind of went out of Jupiter’s comeback.  Cropp took a Bowie feed on the top left and rocketed one home to the top left at 4:36 for 9-5 and late in the game Reed hit the open net with 21 seconds left to end the game on almost a quiet note. After the game it was back to business as usual . . . kids swapping wishes (God only knows how many games these kids have played together, much less against each other) and coaches reminding players that as satisfying or disappointing the result was, it was just the appetizer for a few weeks away . . . Benjamin is back in action at home on Saturday as FLN #7 Bishop Moore comes to town, fresh off a last minute one goal loss at LHP, and Jupiter travels to Martin County on Monday before finishing with #1 STA at home on Thursday.   Team Statistics   Faceoffs:  Benjamin  10-8 Shots:  Jupiter  41-31 Shots on Goal:  Benjamin  23-14 Turnovers:  Jupiter  14-11 Penalties:  3 each   Individual Statistics   Benjamin Peter Reed  3G Griffin Bowie  2G/1A Ryan Kelly  2G Christian Cropp and Chase Farriss with 1G/1A each Blake Erdmann  1G Michael Buttelman and Austin Michels with 1A each Michels with 9 saves   Jupiter Chris Radice  2G Tanner Gabriel  1G/2A Kenny Cronin and Benno Janssen with 1G each Michael Dean  1A Ethan Randell with 13 saves   Thanks to Coach Rye and Coach Loftus for talking to me before and after the game