Thursday, April 25, 2013

High School: Chaminade vs St. Ignatius delayed game reports

End of Q1 SI 1 Chaminade1
Cyrus Scott with 3 Saves
Joe Lang on a feed from Moore Harris for the SI goal

8:07 left in the 2nd quarter SI 1 Chaminade 3
Chaminade scores two quick ones off the FO

Still in Q2 Flyers pick up a loose ball and go for an unassisted goal. 4-1 Flyers

Flyers on EMO with Si in the Box for 2 minutes
SI time out with 1:52 left in the second quarter. Cyrus Scott great in the cage. Score still 4-1 Flyers.
SI facing a VERY stout defense – 13 unforced errors so far for the Wildcats.

Half Time: Score still Chaminade 4 SI 1
Observers say Cyrus Scott keeping SI in the game. Has at least 13 saves in the first half. SI playing lots of D. O needs to possess to give D a rest.

Start of Q3 David Fleming scores for SI Cham 4 SI 2. Seventeen minute scoring drought for the 'Cats has ended!

Flyers answer with a fast break goal. 5-2 Chaminade with 9 minutes to go in the 3rd.

Cyrus Scott keeping SI in the game. Two successive saves on the doorstep!
SI scores again on a rip by Matt Emery! Now 5-3 Chaminade.
David Fleming with his second goal! Now 5-4 Chaminade. 1:25 left in the 3rd.
Cyrus Scott with another BIG save to end the quarter. He's standing on his head! Chaminade 5 SI 4. Go 'Cats!
End of Q3: Chaminade 5 SI 4!

Q4 SI on defense:

Time out with 3:09 left in the game. Still Chaminade 5 SI 4.

SI in their huddle.

Now 31 seconds left. SI with the ball....

5 seconds left. Chaminade with the time out.

Final score Chaminade 5 SI 4. 

Box score from Long Island's Newsday:


GAME STATS
ChaminadeGoalsAssistsPointsSaves
 Burke0110
Carney Mahon0110
Dan Fowler0009
Jack Tigh1010
James Roberts1010
Ryan Lukacovic3140
Sean Cerrone0110
St.IgnatiusGoalsAssistsPointsSaves
 Emery1010
 Fleming2020
 Harris0110
 Lang1120
 Scott00016

Things to note in the Box Score: 1) Cyrus Scott with 16 saves, 2) the Flyers' Ryan Lukacovic was involved in 4 out of the Flyers 5 goals (3G,1A), 3) David Fleming stepped up, big-time, and 4) St. Ignatius had a respectable 50% of its goals assisted, while Chaminade had 80% of its goals come on assists.*
________________________________________________________________________________
* I have long believed that teams with high assist percentages win more often than those teams who don't. It has been an assertion of mine, with no proof. Recently, statisticians started mathematically modeling the components of success in lacrosse contests. Their work shows that the assist is the single most significant event in lacrosse games. More important than CTOs, more important than goals, more important than saves, and more important than ground balls. I believe the assist is the purposeful manifestation of a set of seemingly chaotic acts, i.e. off-ball movement, dodge-draw-dump, skip passes, give and goes, picks, screens, etc. All those activities seek, however imperfectly, to get a player into open, threatening space near the goal. That is, the assist is the result of continuous hard work by everyone on the offense. That motion, those activities, those coordinations without the ball, are the gist of getting a man freed up into threatening space. The assist is merely the natural last act in a long chain of actions. But it is a crucial last act!


I AM SO PROUD OF THE GUYS. They lose by one on the home field of the #2 team in the nation after traveling 3,000 miles to New York, jet-lagged, sleeping in unfamiliar surroundings, and all the other anomalies that impose a slight drain on players.

Great game by two fine teams. If Chaminade were to fly to SF, good as they are, I continue to believe the 'Cats win by two.




4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am a Chaminade alumnus, who obviously was rooting for the host school.

That having been said, I just wanted to commend SI on playing a great game...Even in defeat, you did yourselves, you school, and West Coast Lacrosse very proud. Keep your chins up.

As far as the comment about if Chaminade had gone to CA, we'd lose; I just wanted to bring to your attention (you had no one of knowing this)that last week was the Chaminade senior field trip to Disney. They did not get back until Sunday night. Therefore, having gone about a week without practicing, it is possible they were not their sharpest...Either way, regardless of the circumstances, both team put on a show and treated those in attendance to a classic !

Anonymous said...

I respect you prediction of saying that Chaminade would lose by two if they were to travel to San Francisco however I would have to disagree. As a former lacrosse player, sleeping conditions and new surroundings are something every team has to deal with on the road when playing lacrosse and I don't believe jet lag played a huge factor in this game. Plus, the Saint Ignatius goalie (Scott) played out of his mind. One of the best games I have ever seen a goalie play. As much as I would like to see that from him again I don't think he would play as well in a rematch. If Chaminade were to fly to San Francisco, having already played this team once I think the score would be more along the lines of 8-4 or 9-5 Chaminade. The Chaminade coaches are one of the finest in the country and having very little film to look at for this game caught not only the coaches, but the players by surprise. I am not a betting man but if I were to bet I would definitely choose Chaminade again if these two teams were to rematch (Score being either 8-4, or 9-5).

Billax said...

Thank you for your comments, Gentlemen. Your boys played with skill, heart, and more than a little art. They are a wonderful team and I wish them all the best with the remainder of their season. In fact, I hope the Flyers achieve that which St. Ignatius no longer can – a perfect season. I'll go so far as to hope that last, crowning, victory comes in a CHSAA Championship game against St. Anthony's!

Anonymous said...

First, a well earned and deserved salute to SI. The score says 5-4, and that imputes a tight match.

Second, we are a relocated family from the Bay Area to the MD/DC/VA hotbed and we see and hear the above all the time. To some the world is flat and you can't play lacrosse if your birth certificate reads something other than New York or Maryland. Frankly, you will rarely hear a compliment of a West Coast player or team that is not immediately met with a "yeah, but..." excuse of a rebuttal if overheard by someone from Long Island. Whatever gets them through the day I say. The fact is there are great players everywhere and there are great teams coming from Colorado, California and other new hotbeds. The fact is that in years to come if SI gets on a plane or Chaminade does, these games will continue to be very competitive and SI will win some. The world is indeed round, and there is no reason today to state anything other than to salute SI AND NorCal lacrosse youth programs for where they have arrived which is right there among the best in the sport.