First, I could watch these two teams play every week.  A couple of miles apart along Military Trail.  Players who grew up together, playing on travel teams and clubs.  One of the Jupiter Dad’s was telling me last night about who played with whom on the kid’s teams.  Some are now high school opponents and some are now high school teammates. They know each other really well.  As do the coaches. Not a lot of surprises.  Usually it just comes down to who wants it more that day. Growing up on Long Island it was Rangers – Islanders.  Then when I got to college it was Hobart – Syracuse.  Eventually that rivalry got so good (when Syracuse finally caught up to Hobart in the 80’s – yes, it’s true, it’s true!) it required its own trophy, the Kraus-Simmons Trophy. This one needs one too; its just that good.  How about the Celeste – Cheatham trophy?  Has a nice ring and rolls off the tongue.     When they get together it causes a cliche – ‘throw the records out the window’.  Last night certainly proved that.  Benjamin went through their struggles early in the season and now Jupiter is going through theirs’.  Both coaches are young, smart and hungry for leading successful programs, both individually and together in the summer. After watching the last three games they’ve played I’m hoping they stay around for a long time.  Of course, with the Districts the way they are now that means this game won’t be played in May. Florida’s loss. Cicio and Scheele.  The lacrosse version of Hasek and Brodeur.  For non-hockey fans out there I’m referring to the 2 Hall of Fame goalies Domenik Hasek and Marty Brodeur.  Hasek, the octopus (or calamari if the Cicio family prefers), using all his athleticism to make his saves.  Just when you think he is out of position another tentacle appears to snag the shot.  Scheele, the Cool Hand Luke (sorry kids for that ancient reference), like Brodeur, always in position, economic in movement, cool under duress.  You could just white out the rest of the field for a couple of minutes and the contrasts would stand out. Crotty and O’Connor, Packer and Alexander.  All of them did their jobs, to neutralize each other. Zach and Andrew scored the first period goals. Jerry and Connor then spent the rest of the game vacuuming ground balls. And then there was McKenna and Ryan.  The difference makers this game.  5 goals and 2 assists between them in a 9-5 final.  Playing off against Jake Steiger with 3 goals of his own. The old Armed Forces saying is ‘we control the night’.  This night the saying was ‘we control the fourth’.  McKenna Johnston went 2G/2A in the fourth quarter and both assists were to Ryan Sylvester, who fought through a somewhat painful first quarter . . . well, if you were there you know what I am talking about . . . to score his two during that run.     Benjamin played a perfect fourth quarter and Jupiter’s offense stuttered to a halt.  I can’t remember more than one or two times that Jupiter got an inside look off their motion offense.  Benjamin’s defense shut that down and Jupiter was missing the net a lot on their alley dodges, just like they did Monday night.  Sometimes a game result is simple to analyze and last night this one was. A 4-0 fourth, a 9-5 final.  Self-explanatory.  By the team that at least looked hungrier. Which makes the likely District final in April must-attend, for all area fans, even if you don’t go to these schools. Jupiter started out quickly, trying to remove the memory of Monday as Crotty surprised Cicio just 16 seconds into the game, firing a ten-yard left wing rip between the legs, unassisted.  An interesting choice, as if Zach sensed Anthony wasn’t expecting it, and it was 1-0.  After a number of Benjamin looks that Viper had turned away a penalty led to the tying goal.  Packer taking Colin O’Hare’s top right wing pass on the lower right wing and firing left-handed to the far side and we were tied at one at 4:12.  Crotty got that back quickly, at 3:05, as he scored unassisted on a right wing curl from behind the net, using his left hand and hitting the short side high to end the period at 2-1 Jupiter. The second opened with Jupiter stretching the lead to 3-1 at 10:45 as Steiger curled out from the right side of the cage as the Benjamin defense missed the switch and he hit net from the left crease on Cicio’s short-side and it looked like Jupiter’s offense was finally back on track.  But that was it for Jupiter for the next 17 minutes.  And Benjamin chipped away.  At 8:58 Bobby O’Leary fooled Scheele with a high-kicking bounce shot that just fit under the top left corner of the cage to make it 3-2.  Benjamin then tied the game at 3 as Johnston scored with 4:14 left.  He dodged from left goal-line extended and barely snuck in a short-side right-hand shot that Scheele got a piece of and the half ended at 3-3. The third quarter saw the two teams exchange goals, with Benjamin taking a lead, and Jupiter responding each time.  At 9:15, O’Hare scored the go-ahead goal, utilizing a left-wing spin dodge to the left crease area and hitting the low far side with a high-to-low shot.  Steiger responded at 5:28 with his second, with his own left wing spin move and firing left-handed past Cicio’s short side.  Just 45 seconds later Griffin Bowie made a strong dodge from behind the net on the left side and was able to beat the defense to the crease to make it 5-4.  After a Benjamin penalty after the face-off, Steiger tied it on EMO with his 3rd, taking Ben White’s feed from the left wing behind the goal and firing from the left wing to the short side and we were headed to the fourth all tied. And then there were the three minutes that decided the game. From 9:08 to 6:23 Benjamin lit it up and the game was over. Sylvester started the run taking a short pass on the right side in front and beating Scheele low to the left.  At 7:47, after a penalty call, Johnston took Sylvester’s feed from the top right in the middle and was able to pivot and shoot low and the lead was two.  Just 28 seconds later Johnston scooped the loose ball up on the right sideline and beat everyone to the goal and fired left-handed to the far side for 8-5.  Less than a minute later the run concluded with Sylvester using his defender as a screen on the right wing, taking Johnston’s right behind net feed and firing home to the low, near side. Probably the best three minutes Benjamin has played all year.  When it counted most. The rest of the time was alternated between Benjamin running clock and Jupiter missing net, with a couple of Cicio saves sprinkled in. And once again the high school lacrosse world in South Florida has taken a new turn. What will tomorrow hold? Maybe the schools will think about home and home games next season . . . two for the price of one for all lacrosse fans.   Team Statistics Faceoffs:  Jupiter 10-6 Shots:  Jupiter  33 – Benjamin 29 Shots on Goal:  Jupiter 18 – Benjamin 19 Turnovers:  Jupiter 19 – Benjamin 14 Penalties:  Jupiter 5 – Benjamin 3   Individual Statistics   Jupiter Jake Steiger  3G Zach Crotty  2G Ben White  1A This says a lot about what Jupiter will be working on.   Benjamin McKenna Johnston  3G/2A Ryan Sylvester  2G Colin O’Hare  1G/1A Andrew Packer, Bobby O’Leary and Griffin Bowie  1G each   Anthony Cicio with 13 saves and Viper Scheele with 10 saves.  Excellent games for both. Thanks to Coaches Loftus and Rye for spending time with me both and after the game.   Jupiter looks to get back on track tonight, hosting Ponte Vedra at Jupiter Community Park at 6:00pm tonight while Benjamin travels to W.T. Dwyer Friday night. And remember readers, it’s always a good day to attend a lacrosse game, even if you have no rooting interest in it!  Go see a game today.