A slugfest. Think Mike Tyson fighting Joe Frazier. Also wouldn’t have gone the distance. The most interesting game I watched this year.  Felt like upstate NY in late March, but a lot warmer.  Strong winds, intermittent rain . . . at first . . . then steady rain . . . then with about 3:30 left in the game that old bugaboo, lighting, had to show it’s ugly head.  And then came a rain storm that Noah would have been proud to ride out.  And after about an hour the game was called, with LHP earning a well deserved road win. 21 goals . . . and only 4 of them assisted.  More LHP’s game than Jupiter’s. A slugfest.  

  What ended up making the difference was that LHP’s goalie Austin Farwell came up with FIVE crease-side one-on-one saves.  And Jupiter ended up playing a little more LHP’s style then they wanted to.  Jupiter turned the ball over 16 times and that is high for their style of play while LHP turned it over 11 times and some of Jupiter’s came at key moments and helped keep them from going on a run when momentum was there for the taking.  Then throw in the shooting differential.  LHP put 25 of their 38 shots on goal while Jupiter hit 18 of 32 and in the first quarter they went 5 for 11 when they had some really good looks.  On top of that, when the coaching staffs review the tape they will see the LHP trio of Reid Thedford, Don Eidson and Jackson Colling stinging the inside of the post time after time.  They could play a long time and not duplicate how well the shots were placed.  The red-hot Jesse Foertmeyer was held to 1G/1A and while Zach Crotty chipped in two goals they combined for only one assist in the first half.  LHP jumped out early, with more intensity, and they never trailed the whole game as Jupiter fought hard to come back but after scoring the first goal in the second half to close within 6-5 LHP responded with a 6-2 run to end the third and keep Jupiter at bay. Jupiter responded in the fourth by closing to within 3 but you never got the feeling they were going to make it all the way back, and in a way the rain storm at least leaves open a little intrigue, which can only be answered in May in Bradenton.  And if we get that final game no one will be disappointed . . .     LHP jumped out early as Colling scored 51 seconds into the game as he dodged to the middle from the right wing and hit the low right corner from about 12 yards out with the left hand.  At 9:35 the lead went to 2-1 as Thedford took off down the right alley and hit the low left corner.  Peter Cox got that one back for Jupiter as he curled to the net from left GLE, worked his way towards the middle and hit the low short side to make it 2-1 after one. Thedford put LHP back up 2 at 10:13 as he started down the right alley and drifted a little right before drilling one in the high short side.  Kyle Richbourg stretched the lead to 4-1 just 16 seconds later after Griff Caligiuri scooped up a loose ball on the faceoff, headed down the middle, and found Richbourg on the left wing, where he beat Viper Scheele between the legs.  Chris Cobo cut the lead to 4-2 at 8:13 as he took Alex Derrico’s left wing feed in the middle, turned right and hit the low end of the net.  Thedford responded at 7:16 on a right alley dodge that hit the low left corner for 5-2.  Richbourg and Thedford then combined on the EMO at 5:34 as Thedford found Richbourg on the kleft wing from the top middle and Richbourg went to the low right corner for 6-2.  Jupiter responded at 3:57 as Sean Denes went down the right alley and scored between Farwell’s legs for 6-3 and with just 4 seconds left in the half Cox cut the lead to 6-4 as he cut down the left alley and took Foertmeyer’s left GLE feed and he hit the low right corner.  

  Denes started the third quarter with a curl from behind the left and face dodged to the middle, beating the stick check to score all alone in front and all of a sudden it was 6-5, but just 44 seconds later Eidson placed a perfect hip-high far corner shot on a right alley dodge to make it 7-5.  The teams then traded goals for 4 minutes to make it 9-7.  At 7:39 Thedford worked down the right wing and hit the upper left corner for 8-5.  At 6:02 Foertmeyer responded with his own right alley dodge.  Then at 5:00 Colling picked up a rebound about 8 yards from goal and and stung the low left corner only to have it responded to at 3:33 as Crotty scooped up his own rebound off the left crease and potted it for 9-7, but LHP then went on a quick 3-goal run to end the third and stretch out to their largest lead.  At 2:43 Eidson converted from the left wing, about 10 yards out.  At 1:52 Thedford took a Richbourg feed from the left wing up top and hit the low left corner from 10 yards and at 1:34 Eidson finished the run with a left wing bullet to end the period. Jupiter scored twice in the fourth to narrow the lead to the eventual final of 12-9.  Kane Cochran scored unassisted at 8:25 as he went deep down the alley and went high to the short side and at 4:42 Crotty cut in from the left wing to the middle and found the upper left corner. And then the skies opened up. A shame, but not likely to have changed the outcome. Given the conditions, a heck of a game by the two teams. Bradenton beckons . . . LHP is back in action on Tuesday, travelling to IMG, to a field they have recent success on while Jupiter host WT Dwyer on Tuesday in a district game before their own matchup with IMG at home on Thursday.     Team Statistics   Faceoffs:  Jupiter 16-8 Shots:  LHP 38 – Jupiter 32 Shots on Goal:  LHP 25 – Jupiter 18 Turnovers:  Jupiter 16 – LHP 11 Penalties:  Jupiter 4 – LHP 2   Individual Statistics   LHP Reid Thedford  5G/1A Don Eidson  3G Kyle Richbourg  2G/1A Jackson Colling  2G Griff Caligiuri  1A   Jupiter Zach, Crotty, Sean Denes and Peter Cox  2G each Jesse Foertmeyer  1G/1A Chris Cobo and Kane Cochran  1G each Alex Derrico  1A   Austin Farwell made 9 saves for LHP and Viper Scheele made 13 saves for Jupiter   Thanks to Coach Spaulding and Coach Loftus for talking to me before the game!