photo from South Dade News Leader   It’s so easy to get up as a writer for Jupiter – Lake Highland. And that didn’t disappoint. Neither did last night. Hidden value.  A term used so many ways in my line of work. And in my hobby. One program that just hired a long-time college coach in Chad Moore and has pledged significant funding for the program . . . a sister school to the one coached by the most successful coach in Florida history.  A beautiful campus and a really nice stadium.  Looking at giving EVERY student in the school a week of lacrosse in gym class. That’s music to my ears . . . And Terry and Jan will have some company a couple of years down the line as this District looks like it has another long-term program. The other led by a young man who just took over in Brian Cowan and a college student as assistant, at a magnet school.  Just starting their own program without a feeder system. Yin and Yang . . . In Chinese philosophy, yin and yang describes how apparently opposite or contrary forces are actually complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and how they give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another (from Wiki). Sounds about right to me.  Last night’s game certainly played out that way. American Heritage/Plantation has athletes learning how to play the game . . . big, fast, some advanced players . . . Coral Reef . . . young, small (many underclassmen), but with some pretty smart instincts and one heck of a long pole . . . If you just watched the first quarter you would not have guessed the final score.  AHP’s superior size paid off as the three-headed Ghidrah (that’s the biggest adversary of Godzilla for those of my generation who forget . . . kids, don’t watch the old Godzilla movies on a full stomach, their graphics are something you will not put up with) of JR Jarett Alfero, SO Matt Kirchmier and FR Wyatt Martin combined for 6G/3A in the first on way to their 12G/7A night.  But CR fought hard the rest of the way and played AHP even the rest of the way. It was a lot of fun to watch the contrast. 3 guys with great chemistry who were difficult to defend versus a Coral Reef ‘scat-back’ attack of Zach Gassenheiner, Gregory Mendoza and Gabriel Telleria, supported in the midfield by Justin Telleria, none of which are bigger than me.  Remember when the Redskins had a group called the smurfs in 1982 (their wide receivers)?  Felt like I was watching that again.  And not ONCE did any of them back out of a ground ball scrum. Oh, and for the second week in a row, a terrific long pole that I had not heard of yet . . . Mathew Boldt of Coral Reef.  Pay attention college coaches, he can play on any team in this state. Thanks kids and thanks to the coaches for giving me another reason why it’s so enjoyable for me to not always watch the big name programs . . . ———- AHP was able to jump out early and often in the first and only a poor shooting second quarter (2 for 9 on cage) kept them from putting this away early.  And that allowed Coral Reef to stay relatively close but CR was only able to pull within 4 twice in the second half before AHP put the game away in the fourth.  AHP dominated the faceoffs as that was where the AHP strength really showed but otherwise the game was statistically not too far apart. CR actually took the lead early at 11:01 when Gassenheimer took a feed from Justin Telleria on the left wing and beat AHP goalie Joe Weisberg hip-high on the right side for 1-0 but AHP then ran off the next six goals to make it 6-1 after one.  Alfero scored twice, at 9:59 on a right alley dodge started from the left side, hitting the low left corner and followed that at 7:54 as he dodged to the middle from the right wing and finished left-handed to the low right side to give AHP the lead.  Kirchmier scored 28 seconds later for 3-1 as he backed in from left GLE and spun to the crease before going high with the shot.  Then Kirchmier and Alfero teamed up twice within 7 seconds to stretch it to 5-1.  At 2:44 Kirchmier cut from behind the net to the left crease and took Alfero’s top middle feed and at 2:37 Alfero popped the faceoff forward and found Kirchmier on the left wing, where he hit the high short side.  Martin then finished the run with :22 on the clock as he took a pass all alone on the right crease from Kirchmier’s cross crease feed to make it 6-1 after one. The only goal of the second quarter was by Coral Reef at 4:38 to make it 6-2 at the half.  It was very hard to see if the goal was caused by the CR player getting a poke check on Weisberg when it was in the crease or if it was accidentally poked free by his own defender while reaching for the ball.  Either way the ball popped over Weisberg into the open net and the referees let the goal stand. AHP stretched the lead further early in the third, scoring twice in the first minute.  At 11:25 Alfero cut down the right alley and took Martin’s right GLE feed and hit the low left corner and at 11:00 Martin rocketed one into the top right corner as Alfero found him from the top right wing for 8-2.  Coral Reef came back with two of their own as Gassenheimer took J. Telleria’s feed on the crease on EMO at 7:44 and that was followed 34 seconds later as Mendoza took advantage of a fast break, as Gassenheimer managed to get him the pass on the right crease and it was back to 8-4.  AHP got one back at 6:03 as Kirchmier face dodged from left GLE and worked to the crease, finishing to the low short side.  Then at 4:59 CR responded as Boldt fired home an EMO with the long pole (Michael Diener anyone?), taking a left wing feed from Mendoza and hitting the cage from past ten yards.  Kirchmier then ended the scoring at 10-5 as he worked left GLE and worked to the crease, finishing high at 1:22 to end the third. The teams traded goals in the fourth to make the final 12-7.  AHP scored the first two as Alfero took a feed from Kirchmier on the left wing and fired to the top far corner on EMO and Martin finished the AHP scoring, taking a crease feed from Kirchmier all alone on the right side to make it 12-5.  G. Telleria got on the board on EMO, finishing a terrific set play from Mendoza as he found himself all alone on the left crease and J. Telleria finished it up late on a Gassenheimer feed to end the game. AHP, now 5-2, travels to St. Thomas Aquinas on Thursday in the ultimate benchmark game against the #1 team in the state and Coral Reef, 5-3 but 4-0 in district, looks to clinch the regular season district title on Thursday against Miami-Palmetto, a feat they have never achieved. Good luck to both teams the rest of the way and thanks again for the great game!  And to Louie . . . hope you get that college choice of yours . . . even if it is a step down from the one in Geneva (all of us Statesmen look down our noses at the Ivy’s . . .)!   Team Statistics Faceoffs:  AHP 15-5 Shots:  AHP 34 – CR 25 Shots on Goal:  AHP 19 – CR 14 Turnovers:  AHP 17 – CR 15 Penalties:  AHP 8 – CR 5   Individual Statistics   American Heritage Plantation Matt Kirchmier  4G/4A Jarett Alfero  5G/2A Wyatt Martin  3G/1A   Coral Reef Zach Gassenheimer  2G/2A Justin Telleria and Gregory Mendoza  1G/2A each Mathew Boldt and Gabriel Telleria  1G each   Goalies Joe Weisberg for AHP and Christian Demuth of CR both made 7 saves   Thanks to Coach Moore and Coach Cowan for talking to me before and after the game!