
32 – The Magic Number Is 5 – Let’s Get it On! The Treasure Coast to the West Coast
Written by Lee Roggenburg on . Posted in Uncategorized.
It’s that time of the season!!!
Yes Jim . . . not kidding . . .
First, the predictions:
Cardinal Mooney vs Canterbury Ft. Myers
Gulf Coast vs Barron Collier
Merritt Island/Viera vs MCC
Benjamin/Jupiter vs St. Edwards
Not bad. Cardinal Mooney is substituted by Riverview-Sarasota.
For the first time since I have been writing here it will be a bracket without both Cardinal Mooney and Bishop Verot . . . the changing of the guard in that area is in full swing.
Riverview-Sarasota Travels to Canterbury-Ft. Myers
Would have gotten a LOT of odds on this one in January . . .
13-5 Riverview-Sarasota wins their district in their first year as a varsity program. Congrats to coach Pete deLisser and the players for so quickly building the program. Like so many teams they showed they could score a lot but struggled with the scoring against the better programs, with the flip side on defense too. A one goal loss to Maclay was a highlight. Then earning the bracket slot with the OT win over CM.
10-6 Canterbury earned their first trip to the bracket with the decisive win over Ft. Myers. New coach Trent Carter worked his magic after coming over from Barron Collier and they are looking to avenge their 9-8 regular season loss to Riverview on the road. There’s not a lot to distinguish between them but the home field advantage shifts over to Canterbury.
Prediction: I suspect this will be an overtime game and there’s really little reason to think there’s a favorite, but I will look to the home field to give the edge to Canterbury 10-9 in OT.
Gulf Coast Travels to Barron Collier
The West Coast version of Jupiter and Benjamin as these two teams always seem to hook up in the playoffs, first as district rivals and then as first round ones.
11-4 Gulf Coast pretty much beat everyone they were favored to beat and lost to everyone they were underdogs to, as they lost to STA, Tampa Jesuit, American Heritage/Plantation and in the regular season matchup to Barron Collier 13-10 at home. They were pretty prolific on offense as they scored 17 or more goals 10 times and even 14 in one of the losses. This is a program on the rise.
17-1 Barron Collier was a little puzzling to me early as the schedule looks better now after the season than it did during it. I was able to see their STA game, where they showed some definite ability but they never really threatened in that game. But they did score 12 or more goals in every other game this season and they comfortably won the rest of their games with one exception.
Given the intensity of this rivalry it means you kind of throw the records out the window.
Prediction: Again I wouldn’t be surprised if we see an OT or two in this one. And given how many times these two have met the home field is less of an advantage than normal. I will go with Barron Collier to pull it out in OT 15-14 as both teams go on runs, but it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Gulf Coast pulls this one out.
Merritt Island Travels to Melbourne Central Catholic
17-3 Merritt Island has long had one of the better regular season winning records in the northern Treasure Coast but has never really gotten much out of their playoff runs. This year they have taken another step and will make their second appearance in the brackets. The regular season saw them drop a narrow 8-6 game to MCC at home and they now travel to them. It was their only loss in the last 12 games and they are on a 9-game winning streak.
12-3 MCC has pretty much dominated this area of the state for a number of years now and has consistently gotten to the Final 16. The schedule has gotten progressively better over the years and that should help with this one.
Prediction: I think that this is one where we will see a mild upset as Merritt Island goes to MCC and takes home a 12-9 victory
St. Edward’s Travels to Benjamin
This one should be a beauty. They played a one-goal game midway through the season up in Vero and the rematch should be must see viewing in the PB Gardens area.
St. Edward’s comes in with an 11-6 record, which is very impressive given their schedule, which also included STA, SA, Lake Mary, Stoneman and a number of other schools that are certainly competitive. At the beginning of the season this looked like the best schedule in the state on paper but a few of their opponents really had off years. Either way, this is arguably the biggest game in their school’s history and a win gives them a great shot at a Final Four spot.
Benjamin finished with a 13-3 record including their OT win at SE, as well as the district sweep of Jupiter and a road walloping of LHP. And most importantly they get back for their playoff run Will Nicklaus, who missed the entire season until the last game. This makes them a very big team to play against offensively.
Prediction: It will be great. Okay , can’t cop out now . . . Benjamin will win this one 10-8
That makes the second round look like:
Benjamin vs MCC
Canterbury vs Barron Collier
Get out to a game!