Every time I cover a game at CCA another story seems to come out and last night was no different. Last year, at our FLN Senior All Star Game, my assistant coaches were Adam Bond of CCA and Scott Rickard of Immokalee and after getting to know each other they decided to schedule games and when I found out about it i promised them I would cover the game.  Unfortunately, Adam was rescheduled by the Academy for a retreat with his 6th grade class and he had to miss the game, depriving me of a picture with all three of us, the only undefeated coaching staff in Florida history . . . There were definitely compensating positives though. First, the reconstruction of the stadium is pretty much done and it looks terrific.  A full press box, seat back sections, etc.  Looks great! Second, Adam has as his assistant Gary Fuchs, who I have gotten to know well over the years and it’s always great to catch up with him. Third, I finally got to see Immokalee play.  Readers of this site know how much I have come to respect this program and the job Coach Rickard and his staff have done with what is clearly not the average demographic of a Florida lacrosse program.  After seeing them play I can easily state the admiration has taken another step up.     As we were talking after the game Coach Rickard made an interesting off-hand comment to me that I think a LOT of parents who watch from the stands could learn from.  For those who are not aware at this point Immokalee is located within the Everglades and it is known as a migrant community where agriculture is the main source of the local economy.  Readers know I have been on a jeremiad the past few years about fans complaining about the officiating . . . as if the most important thing in life is that their kid did not get the call for being held or a push from behind. When we were discussing his kids Scott mentioned that some of them ‘work the fields’ during the week.  For the uninformed that means that the winter tomatoes that the yelling parent is serving with their sliced mozzarella and balsamic, was possibly picked by the kid that won the ground ball . . . Kind of puts things in perspective, doesn’t it?  Or maybe not . . . some adults are slow learners. I didn’t hear ANY yelling at the refs from the stands last night.  Maybe it’s because these two fan bases get it? They yelled FOR their kids, not against something. Another compensating positive from last night.     The game itself was very interesting to watch.  And very frustrating if you are a CCA fan.  A 6-4 lead early in the fourth, even in the face of a dreadful shooting night.  41 shots at goal and only 17 hit the net.  And then Immokalee dug deep and took over the game in the fourth.  Just that quarter told the story of how this game was played out.  Both teams turned it over 6 times as the defenses did not make it easy to either clear or get a look inside.  But the fourth quarter also showed Immokalee scoring 5 goals on 7 shots on goal, off of 10 attempts while CCA scored twice on 4 shots on goal off of 12 attempts. The game was crisp and physical but not one real shot that crossed the line.  Sticks were down, hits were shoulder and below.  Sticks were everywhere in the passing lanes as both teams packed it in and both offenses worked the perimeter to set up dodges.  Some things that stood out to me about Immokalee were that their kids were pretty much fearless in attempting to go through each possible defender, which in retrospect isn’t really surprising and that the defensive middies were really in your face.  That fearlessness extended to groundballs too. CCA lost one of the two best players in program history in Hunter Ramsey due to graduation and his leadership was missed in a game like this.  Where I felt he was really missed was on those ground ball battles.  When you have a player like him the rest of the team plays more confidently and last night that was a problem.  The shooting certainly reflected that.  I was looking forward to seeing how Jason Thomfohrde, the now 9th grader, has matured with another year of growth and if anything, I think he might have been a little too unselfish when the game was on the line.  A lesson for the next close game.  Ben Fuchs played a very solid game in goal for CCA, controlling a lot of lengthy shots and gaining numerous possessions off of Immokalee shots that were not backed up.     Immokalee’s Marc Galindo is a very interesting player to watch and as the program’s all time leading scorer played that role. with 3 of the 5 4th quarter goals in crunch time.  He showed a nice sense of timing about cutting to open space and getting off the shot.  CCA’s Jimmy Batchelor showed range with his two goals while CCA’s Gabe Turner and Immokalee’s Robert Mendoza both chipped in with assists, but the shot of the game was with less than 4 minutes to go and ended up being the game winner as Moises Ramirez absolutely ripped an EMO rocket from about 15 yards into the top left corner. And as is the tradition when a team plays at CCA, the after game ritual included the prayer at midfield with both teams, and the kids being treated to pizza while mingling together. Another compensating positive and something the more high profile programs should think about trying once in awhile.  If the parents can let the kids be kids. It was a long drive back to Immokalee last night, but a happy one for the visitors. It was a much shorter drive back home for me, but just as happy. I had a lot of fun last night. And I promised Adam we’d catch up next week anyhow . . .     Immokalee opened the scoring at 9:55 of the first, as Ariel Perez, who also handled clearing duties for the Indians, face dodged from up top, splitting and weaving through the CC defense and his right hand found the low left for 1-0 and that’s how the quarter ended. 50 seconds into the second Immokalee stretched it to 2-0 as Galindo took advantage of a fast break while on EMO, and he went in all alone on Fuchs from the left wing and hitting the short side.  37 seconds later CC cut it to 2-1 when Thomfohrde curled from behind the left side of the cage up the left wing and his right hand found the short side.  It took about 7 minutes for CC to tie it up at 2, as the EMO had expired, as Turner found Batchelor up top from right GLE and Batchelor’s step down ripped the top right corner at 3:28.  With 2:09 left in the half Mark Maldonado and Bryan Reyes teamed up on the fast break, with Maldonado fed Reyes on the right alley from the left wing and the shot went low right from 10 yards out to send Immokalee to the half with a 3-2 lead. CC took control in the third with three of the four goals of the quarter to take the 5-4 lead after three.  At 10:56 it was Ben Stephenson feeding Batchelor off the restart, as he was in the deep corner and found Batchelor all alone up top for the step down.  Just 56 seconds later Immokalee regained the lead as Kervins Michel took advantage of the turnover and clear to find Ricky Loredo on the right alley for the low shot.  CC tied it up at 4:49, taking advantage of a turnover, as Grant Walker found Thomfohrde low on the left wing for the low right shot.  And with 1:48 left, on EMO, Bryce Veith took a left wing skip pass from Turner on the right side and he hit the low far corner.     At 11:28 CC took their only two goal lead as Luke Davis worked from the behind left up the wing before his fading away shot hit the low short side.  That lasted 43 seconds as Galindo stepped up, taking Loredo’s right wing feed while cutting through the middle and he hit the far side hip high for 6-5.  Then at 9:50 he tied the game unassisted, working behind the net o n the left side, splitting 2 defenders to the front and finishing from the crease for 6-6.  After changes of possession Reyes split 3 defenders in the middle and weaved his way to the goal, hitting the low left for the 7-6 lead.  Immokalee then took advantage of late CC penalties to stretch it to 9-6.  The first at 3:52, was the Ramirez shot I referenced above and the second, at 2:32, was Mendoza feeding Galindo for a similar shot.  Turner ended the scoring on EMO with 1:54 left as he was allowed to walk in from up top and his shot beat Perez, who got a piece but couldn’t keep it from rolling into the net. CC had a few chances to cut into the lead further but the shots did not hit the net and Immokalee came away with a big road win in what i hope will become an annual meeting between the two programs. Immokalee is back in action on Tuesday, hosting district foe Golden Gate, while CCA hosts Stoneman Douglas on Tuesday.   Team Statistics   Faceoffs:  Immokalee 13-7 Shots:  CCA  41-29 Shots on Goal:  Immokalee 20-17 Turnovers:  Immokalee 23-20 Penalties:  Immokalee  7-6   Individual Statistics   Immokalee Marc Galindo  4G Bryan Reyes  2G Ricky Loredo  1G/1A Ariel Perez and Moises Ramirez with 1G each Robert Mendoza  2A Kervin Michel and Mark Maldonado with 1A each Paymond Perez made 10 saves   CCA Jason Thomfohrde and Jimmy Batchelor with 2G each Gabe Turner  1G/2A Bryce Veith and Luke Davis with 1G each Grant Walker and Ben Stephenson with 1A each Ben Fuchs with 11 saves   Thanks to Coach Fuchs and Coach Rickard for talking to me before and after the game and to Coach Bond for texting . . . :)