
Cypress Bay in OT Over NSU-University 11-10 in Deluge
Written by Lee Roggenburg on . Posted in Uncategorized.
Having gotten stir crazy over the past week with the weather I was searching for a game that hopefully would get played.
Combine that with wanting to watch Cypress Bay and Anthony Courcelle before the season ended I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. At about 4:00pm I called NSU-U head coach Jan Northrop, as dedicated a Nittany Lion as I am a Statesman (and over the moon after PSU’s stunning upset of #1 Denver Saturday), to see if they were still on and he said yes. So I headed out onto the Sawgrass and the eastern bound 595 to University Drive and was dismayed by the ever darkening clouds along the way and when I got to the field it was coming down pretty good.
Thankfully however the cooler temperatures of the day kept lightning from being added to the mix.
On the field, after questioning if Jan’s education indicated he had been prepared to read weather maps upside down, we all laughed and went about pre-game preparations. Of course, the rain had a mind of its’ own . . . and rain does not need to warm up.
How bad was this?
I went to the Sun-Sentinel this morning to see how much rain actually did fall and they noted that the area I was in was the hardest hit . . . 4.5″ . . . in two hours.
Of course there’s always a silver lining. Besides the turf field that drained well and the covered press box.
I had my opening paragraph!
The NSU-University SHARKS and the Cypress Bay LIGHTNING . . .
If this were a football game in northern Wisconsin I could go the ‘frozen tundra’ route and no one would bat an eye.
The fall back was pretty good.
From the Shark infested standing water ponds of Auto Nation Field (yes, NSU-U managed to sell naming rights to Wayne Huizenga’s old company . . . for those who are not familiar with this reference you can Google it yourself, it is pretty much a straight line) we bring you the Lightning . . . okay, work with me here . . .
Not quite the Jets and the Sharks . . . kids you can Google that one too.
Okay, enough cultural education for now . . .
The game pretty much played out the way you would think . . . a senior-dominated team finds a way to come from behind late to win a game against a team featuring a lot of underclassmen that haven’t quite yet learned how to put a game like this away. And while NSU-U has a lot of nice pieces they don’t have that one dominant player while CB does. CB was 11-3 going in and NSU was 3-7. All eleven CB goals scored by seniors. Dylan Pulitano with six himself.
Almost inevitable.
I’ve seen Cypress twice in the last two seasons and now I have two OT games. Both Cypress wins. Both come from behind in the fourth quarter.
Fun to watch, tough to coach.
The rain meant no live scoreboard, so no time clock.
NSU-U never trailed the entire game.
Until the OT winner.
Frustrating for the players, the coaches and the parents who squeezed into the press box with me . . . there were some fans who managed to stand the entire time in the stands and they deserve to have their kids feed them breakfast in bed this weekend.
A side note to some of those parents in the booth with me who were wondering about young Mr. Courcelle’s game last night and was he playing well or not . . . don’t kid yourselves. Very few LSM’s dominate a lacrosse game. In these conditions he showed an ability to make a meaningful difference. He didn’t score but he did all the dirty things that win a game. Groundballs off the wing on faceoffs, being a key outlet for clearing for a goalie that needed the help last night, shutting down an NSU middie who had a hot first half, a one-man clear when it was needed, a calming influence in the offensive half to set up a settled situation . . . and all in this weather.
Most importantly, as a confidence builder of his teammates . . . and as a coach on the field.
Off it too. I watched after the game how the Cypress players handled the win. There’s no question who’s team this is.
Parents, he’s the real deal. Even if it doesn’t always easily show itself from the stands.
NSU-U has nothing to be ashamed about either.
The improvement from the Jupiter game I saw earlier in the year is real. They went toe to toe with a very good team and their teamwork has substantially improved. The offense and midfield went up against a VERY big defense and did not back down.
Jeremy Lapayowker had a very nice game in goal and until the fourth quarter the defense stood up beautifully. Where the youth showed late in the game it was two-fold . . . not running more clock with a two-goal lead in the fourth and letting CB’s attack get to shooting areas late in the game that they were taking away up until then. Those two things will come with time and next season will see some of those close games going the other way.
And it will give Jan some more time to brush up on his meteorology. If it sounds like I’m picking on him a little it’s payback for PSU playing the Hobart home game in a bubble . . . poor lighting in the fourth . . . Hobart leading by 3 in the 4th . . . you get the picture. Not that I’m making any excuses . . .
The first quarter ended with NSU-U up 2-1. Dante Trapani opened the scoring unassisted as he moved in from the top right wing and fired from about 15 yards out, catching CB goalie Christian Wizz by surprise, and the shot caught the low left corner. The second goal came as Max Herrman drew the slide at right GLE and he found Trapani on the right wing for the right hand step down, catching the mid short side. Nick Countryman and John Pate combined to get one back for CB as Pate’s up top feed found Countryman on the left wing for a step down from 12 yards that found the low left corner to make it 2-1.
Cypress tied it up in the second as Dylan Pulitano (6G/2A) took a Shane Kreutzer behind the cage feed cutting down the middle and easily finished for 2-2. NSU-U responded with three goals of their own to push the lead to 5-2. Drew Hoffman dodged from the left wing to the middle and his right hand found the top right corner. Then Trapani took Sam Oshinsky’s low left feed up the left side and he bounced one high to the right side and that was followed by Hoffman and Jesse Miot combining on a fast break, with Miot finding Hoffman alone in front, with Hoffman finishing high right. Pulitano made it 5-3 with a lengthy shot from the top wing. Kyle Gittelman responded for NSU-U with his own lengthy shot on a fast break for 6-3. Two EMO goals finished out the second quarter, one by each, to make it 7-4 at the half. Pulitano took Kreutzer’s low left feed for CB and Trapani taking a right wing skip pass from K. Gittelman, hitting the low left corner.
Cypress came out hot in the third and scored the only two goals to make it 7-6 going into the fourth. Kreutzeer and Pulitano combining on a fast break off a turnover, with Kreutzer going between Lapayowker’s legs and Pulitano curling from left behind to the alley and the front, finishing low.
NSU-U regained the 2 goal lead as Hoffman took a pass in the middle and dodged left before hitting the top right corner. Pulitano responded off a bad clear, going in alone on the goalie for 8-7. Matt Gittelman fed Hermann from the left wing and Hermann finsihed in the middle for 9-7. Cypress rallied with two to tie the game as Pulitano’s curl from left behind was followed by Countryman starting top right and beating his man straight to the goal. Oshinsky gave NSU-U the lead back late in the game by dodging to the middle from left wing and hitting the low left corner but Kreutzer worked behind and curled left and hit the top right corner to send the game to OT.
Pulitano finished off his incredible night with a left wing spin move and fired the shot high to the short side early in the OT period and once again we get that most common of athletic endings . . . the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.
A heck of a game played in awful conditions.
The hot shower last night must have felt like a 60-minute body massage.
Well, comparatively at least . . .
Cypress Bay travels to Pine Crest tonight while NSU-U finishes with Kettle Moraine of Wisconsin on Friday.
Anthony, it’s been a pleasure, now last all four years at Marquette and do Florida proud.
Forgot to ask you . . . catch any zombies since I last covered a CB game?
Team Statistics
Faceoffs: CB 14-10
Shots: NSC-U 37-36
Shots on Goal: CB 22-20
Turnovers: CB 21-19
Penalties: 3 each
Individual Statistics
CB
Dylan Pulitano 6G/2A
Shane Kreutzer 3G/1A
Nick Countryman 2G
John Pate 1A
Christian Wizz with 10 saves
NSU-U
Dante Trapani 4G
Drew Hoffman 3G
Kyle Gittelman, Max Herrman and Sam Oshinsky 1G/1A each
Jesse Miot and Matt Gittelman 1A each
Jeremy Lapayowker with 11 saves
Thanks to Coaches Northrop and Courcelle for talking to me before and after the game.