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SA Tops Benjamin 8-7 in Old-Fashioned Barn Burner

Written by Lee Roggenburg on . Posted in .
  Old-fashioned barn burner.  Kids don’t talk like that anymore. Too bad. It’s a really simple meaning.  ‘A very impressive event’ according to Answers.com. We had one last night.  The stands were full.  Others ringed the fences around the field.  And they all witnessed a game that you would want to show to a newcomer to the sport to get them to come back for another. The statistics really told the story well.  Faceoffs 10-8.  Shots 35-30.  Shots on Goal 24-18.  Turnovers 18-17.  Penalties 11-8.  Two goalies with great games as they stopped 67% and 61% of the shots respectively, many of the spectacular nature.  And some under the radar surprises from those statistics too. Just a couple of more plays made by SA, that was really the only thing that separated these two last night. The defenses dominated the first quarter, as both teams struggled to find any true opportunities.  Benjamin struggled to get set up in the offensive end and run their offense, and when they did get set up played a very patient possession game.  Saint Andrew’s followed suit as both defenses packed it in tight to start.  The teams combined for 11 turnovers, mostly forced by solid defensive play more than sloppiness.  Each team got off only 5 shots in the period.  Benjamin goalie Anthony Cicio stopped all four shots on goal in the period to keep the game even early.  Following the only penalty call in the period Benjamin scored the only goal to take a 1-0 lead after one as Colin O’Hare took Andrew Packer’s EMO feed and scored with 4:20 left.  O’Hare scored after cutting down the right wing and taking Packer’s feed from goal line extended, bouncing a shot in to the far side of SA goalie Connor Poetzinger.   Benj cicioflying 214   The second quarter was a tale of the first 11-plus minutes followed by the last 40 seconds.  SA dominated offensive chances in the quarter, out-shooting Benjamin 13 -6, putting 9 of them on goal.  Their efforts paid off early as Keith Mahler scored from far out (shown above), shooting a left-handed laser after spinning left from up top at 9:49 to even it at one.  But for the next 9 minutes Benjamin managed to take back the play even in the face of the offensive onslaught thanks to offensive patience.  Just 1:05 later Will Nicklaus (an EIGHTH-grader; boy will he be a handful . . .) scored unassisted on one of Benjamin’s 4 EMOs for the period, scoring off a nice left side face dodge to the crease, tucking the ball in under the crossbar to make it 2-1.  With 2:33 left in the half Benjamin stretched the lead to 3-1 on Nicklaus’ second, also unassisted on a spin move from the right wing, shooting lefty to the near side of the cage, also drawing a penalty on the play.  Up 3-1, with possession on the face-off and up a man, it looked like Benjamin was going into the locker room with a lead and the momentum. But for what ever reason, this series always seems to throw a few lightning bolts around.  As if Thor was a lacrosse fan and was feeling bored at the moment. After killing off the man advantage SA went back on offense in the last minute hoping to cut the lead and regain momentum.  They did better than that.  
Nicklaus and Heatzig match up
Nicklaus and Heatzig match up
  Three goals in the last 0:38.  That’s not a misprint.  4-3 SA at the half.  Exhilarating and heartbreaking at the same time.  Depending on where you were sitting in the stands. Zach Schwartz started the run, taking Cole Mulligan’s left wing feed on the left side and bouncing one between Cicio’s legs to cut the deficit to one.  After winning possession on the faceoff, SA got off a shot that missed wide left.  On the fast re-start Benjamin was unlucky in that one of their long poles dropped his stick and was behind the play.  Schwartz took advantage and cut from behind the net, face dodging to the left to get off the tying shot with 0:18 left, unassisted.  Then with only four seconds left, after another face-off win, Ben Kennedy got off a long shot from a good distance away and it looked to change direction on a deflection.  That was enough to beat Cicio and the game’s tenor had changed dramatically. It wasn’t just the score.  Benjamin’s 3-1 lead had come, as the soccer announcers are so fond of saying ‘against the run of play’.  That was at least true statistically but for the first 23:22 of the half Benjamin was doing exactly what it wanted to accomplish.  And it went back to what worked in the third and tried to play patient.  But it was SA that finally broke through, going up 5-3 with 4:43 left in the third on Brandt Gulden’s EMO score.  Gulden scored unassisted, starting up top and face-dodging the defender, bouncing a shot past Cicio to make it 5-3.  At 2:24 Benjamin responded on a 5 on 4 EMO as McKenna Johnston took O’Hare’s feed on the right wing and fired a high shot past Poetzinger to cut the lead back to one. But Thor decided to intervene again and Kennedy scored his second with only six seconds left on the clock, sneaking in one under the crossbar on a right alley dodge to send it to the fourth with SA leading 6-4. SA stretched the lead to three just 32 seconds into the fourth with Mahler scoring his second with pretty much a replica of his second quarter goal, ripping lefty from up top.  Benjamin responded with an EMO tally as Ryan Silvester took O’Hare’s up top feed and fired from the left wing, beating Poetzinger to the upper corner with 9:02 left.  Benjamin then won the next possession but turned it over and SA made them pay.  Addison Lutes, taking advantage of the extra space on a 5 on 5 curled out from goal line extended and deposited a left-hand shot to make it 8-5 with 7:30 left.  SA looked to have wrapped up the game with less than three minutes to go but Jake Bargas’ solo dash and goal went for naught as a crease violation was called as the goal went in, turning the ball back to Benjamin.  Packer then took advantage by driving to the middle against pressure and firing left-handed into the far corner with 1:57 left to cut the lead to 2.  Getting the ball back Sylvester then took off down the sideline, fighting off his defender to shoot a high shot past the goalie, drawing a penalty on the play. So the stage was set for a barn burning finish.  One goal down, 50 seconds to go and Benjamin possession with a chance to catch lightning in the bottle themselves.  Alas, the Gods of fortune were not kind.  A few attempts were not difficult for the SA defense to handle and the game ended with the ball high in the air off one last clearing pass. One terrific lacrosse game to watch.  In front of a large crowd.  High School lacrosse at its best. For Benjamin it continues their streak of heartbreak losses to start the season.  But they should take away a lot of positives from this game.  A very solid defensive effort combined with the continued maturation of their young squad, facing up to their nemesis without blinking.  44 seconds cost them the game.  Difficult to swallow now but very helpful down the line in learning how to win. For Saint Andrew’s, another in a long line of finding a way to win.  For a different cast of characters.  But the name of the uniform remains the same and so far so do the results.  If these two teams do meet again this year it will be in the final eight of the playoffs,  Should be a lot of fun if it occurs.   Team Statistics Faceoffs:  SA 10-8 Shots:  SA 35 – Benjamin 30 Shots on Goal:  SA 24 – Benjamin 18 Turnovers:  SA 17 – Benjamin 18 Penalties:  SA 11 – Benjamin 8   Individual Statistics:   SA Keith Mahler  2G Zach Schwartz  2G Ben Kennedy  2G Brandt Gulden  1G Addison Lutes  1G Cole Mulligan  1A   Benjamin Colin O’Hare  1G/2A Will Nicklaus  2G McKenna Johnston  1G Ryan Sylvester  2G Andrew Packer  1G/1A   The goalies were on fire all night.  Benajmin’s Cicio with 16 saves on 24 shots and SA’s Poetzinger with 11 saves on 18 shots on goal.  And a shout out to both sets of long poles for making the offenses earn everything! I mentioned in the first paragraph that this was an under the radar surprise in the lead.  Only 4 of the 15 goals were assisted, three of which were EMO’s.  That was a surprise to me since I thought with the two tough defenses and two excellent goalies that it would take more offensive patterns to break down the defenses but it didn’t really play out that way.  Given that both teams came into the season with big holes on offense to fill it looks like each took a step in that direction Friday night. Thanks to both Coach Dawson and Coach Rye for spending time with me before and after the game, as always. SA returns to action Saturday with an away game at Palm Beach Gardens before traveling crosstown on Tuesday for a district showdown with Boca Raton , a game I am eagerly looking forward to.   Benjamin returns to action at home Tuesday against St. Edwards, which is coming off its own upset of Ransom Everglades Friday.  Maybe a tougher test for them than first thought.

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