thanks to Constantine ‘Dean’ Nickas for submitting the pictures!    And rested and rested some more. At least in result. In actuality both team defenses and the poor two-way middies for both all probably shared a hot tub last night. 36 goals on only 56 shots on goal.  21 goals unassisted. Before the game, as I was eating my Boston Market bowl with turkey, red skin potatoes and spinach (does that plug deserve a free meal?) I overheard the PA announcer as he called the PC-Bartram Trail Girl’s game and it sounded like a lot of fun.  The final score ended at 18-16, which seemed pretty unusual for the Girl’s game, at least the ones I’ve attended. Little did I know that was going to be  the lower scoring game of the night . . .  

  Only 29 total turnovers but you normally have to have some sort of lengthier possession for a defense to cause them and neither team seemed interested in patience.  In fact, you could have played this one with the NBA 24-second shot clock and not had too many violations. Imagine riding bumper cars at drag race speed . . . that is how you visualize last night.  Particularly the fourth quarter. 13 goals alone in that quarter.  I didn’t remember to ask CC Coach Jim Delang if he thought his kids could run off 30 seconds of the clock at the end of the game if they had a one-goal lead without at least YEARNING to take a shot.  Is it even in the realm of their lacrosse DNA? 9 EMO goals on 11 penalties . . . throw in a shorthand goal on top of that.  

  If I did my usual recap it would look something like this: Player A takes the ball on the _____ wing and dodges to _____, fires the ball to the _____ corner at _____. For about 20 goals . . . The other 16 goals were kind of like this: Player A feeds to Player B at _____ and just before the defense rotates out he shoots into the _____ corner at _____.  Most of those were from the left wing and crease. There were two goals that actually occurred off loose balls/rebounds picked up in front, so let’s make it 19 and 15 above to make it mathematically accurate.  

  So lets skip ahead to the fourth for the detail of the goals and just summarize the first 36 minutes.   In the first quarter Columbus Catholic jumped out to 5-1 and 6-2 leads before ending the first with a 6-3 lead.  CC’s Alex Gonzalez went 3/1 in the first while PC’s David Tescher went for 2 goals in response.  CC hit the net with 9 of 11 while PC only went 5 for 9.  Pretty much the story on that quarter. In the second quarter CC outscored PC 5-4 to take an 11-7 lead at the half after PC managed to close within 7-6 before CC channeled their inner Roadrunner/Wylie E. Coyote to regain momentum.  Gonzalez continued to score at will while Cody Shaman took off for PC. PC star middie Zach Smith was only able to contribute an assist in the first half as he showed a desire to hit posts and helmets instead of net.  In the second half he improved a little bit as he went for 5G/2A in it . . . Scary to think what his totals might have been if he were a faster starter last night! PC outscored CC 4-1 in the third quarter to pull within 12-11 entering the fourth and for a few minutes I thought the defenses were catching up.  Smith and Tescher led the way.  PC hit the net on 7 of 8 shots while CC hit the net on 7 of 13 with PC goalie Patrick Haley having a great quarter.  

  Then we get to this: PC    10:58   12-12 CC    9:13    13-12 PC    8:20    13-13 PC    7:54    14-13   Yes, PC actually takes their first lead of the game! CC    7:42    14-14   But not for long . . . CC    6:00    15-14 CC    5:36     16-14 PC    4:49     16-15 CC    4:37     17-15 CC    3:47     18-15 PC    1:29     18-16 PC    0:57     18-17    No way this is going to happen is it? CC    0:44     19-17   Nope, Michael Perry sticks the dagger off the faceoff, beating half the PC team trying to trail check him.   Okay, I lied. There’s only so much time in the day and I can’t keep typing.  Serious case of writer’s cramp at the game. I only wish I was just a fan in the stands instead of a reporter. John, is this what you had in mind as an External Event?  

    Also forgot to ask the refs where they were going afterward to rebuild their carb counts . . . good thing the night had cooled off.   Columbus Catholic travels to Coral Shores on Thursday and Pine Crest hosts University on Thursday.  Good luck to both on getting their legs back in time . . .   We’ll go back to our regularly scheduled coverage tonight in Boca as the Bobcats host Lake Mary tonight.  We won’t be seeing 36 goals in that one.   Team Statistics Faceoffs:  CC 22-18 Shots:  PC  49 – CC 38 Shots on Goal:  PC 28 – CC 28 Turnovers:   PC 15 – CC 14 Penalties:  CC 6 – PC 5   Individual Statistics   CC Alex Gonzalez  8G/2A Michael Perry  3G/2A Kyle Glaser  3G/1A Nick Quesada  1G/2A Austin Volovar  2G Brando Caviero  1G/1A Alex Cancio  1G   PC Zach Smith  5G/3A David Tescher  5G/1A Cody Shaman  3G/2A Noah Dearman  2G Matt Urban and Austin Nero  1G each Chris Dunne  1A   Jon Nickas made 11 saves for CC and Patrick Haley made 9 saves for PC   Thanks to Coach Harris of Pine Crest and Coach Delang of Columbus for speaking to me before and after the game!