Landon beats top NC team in double o/t

LANDON LACROSSE 15 CARDINAL GIBBONS 14

Double Overtime

For the past 5 years the Crusaders of Raleigh, NC have ranked in the top of its state with three #1s. This year they are 12-3 with the losses to Long Island’s St. Anthony and Philly’s undefeated Springfield. Landon has played them before; their roster is deep with athletes; well-coached by a former college player and who has an impressive resume of a decade of high level positions.

On the other hand, Coach McGettigan had to field a team which included more than 10 players with little prior competitive experience (some freshmen from the  JV squad). Oddly enough, this unexpected elevation gave these younger Bears some valuable crunch time.

During the 1st Q, it looked like the Bears had just gotten off a 5 hour bus drive. The Hunter Green and Gold  visitors had their way in the home D zone, tallying 4 goals (11:22, 9:34, 2:05 and 0:02.5) without any disturbance of the CG nets.

END OF 1^ST Q CRUSADERS 4 BEARS 0

The next 12 minutes saw the Bear newbies get more comfortable—Ds were switching on a timely basis, the O sets were now reliable and perhaps most importantly, the Landon ride was causing turnovers and shot clock violations. The result was a period in which the team from in the White Rocks started a comeback:

Bear Goal 1                     @9:32 Kevin Miller from Anthony Panetti

Bear Goal 2                     @8:54 Steele Maddux f

Bear Goal 3                     @7:55 Kevin unassisted

Bear Goal 4                     @7:02 Kevin from Anthony P

The NC team came back firing, hitting the back of the Bear nets at 6:18 and 5:23. However, the Bears responded with Kevin’s 4^th goal @3:57. Soph Chase Robertson used his speed on an alley dodge for Landon’s 6^th@2:26. As the clock ran to the end of 24:01 to 35:00, Will Single got a sweet feed from Chase to take the lead for the 1^st time, 0:15.5

HALFTIME BEARS 4 CRUSADERS 4

The original Crusaders were noted for their determination against an unrelenting opponent and the modern NC version has the same attitude, tying up at 11:30. Anthony P, ever the competitor himself, tied it up with a back-handed goal @9:06. Long pole William Wright, another of the class of ’24, cleared the ball and found Kevin¸who  took back the advantage @4:52.

The visitors continued their battle in the Holy Land within the White Rocks and evened the score at 4:38 and 0:15.

END OF 3^RD Q BEARS 9 CRUSADERS 9

The last 12 minutes started inauspiciously with the Hunter Green and Gold come out firing—3 goals in the initial 5 minutes, including one EMO.

The young Bears  did not wilt under the pressure. L Goal #10 was a speedy run  by Will Single @ 7:02 and ultra-speedy Anthony P hit the far corner @5:23.

Cardinal Gibson took a +2 lead at 5:08. The next Bear goal was earned by #8, his 6^th@3:18.  Possession was intermittently grabbed by each team until the home team was awarded possession at 0:02. Down by one, the Bears faced a seemingly unsurmountable lead. WRONG– Anthony P was set up at Exit 16 (a/k/a ~ the restraining line) with only the time to shoot. The rules state that IF THE BALL IS SHOT BEFORE 0:00 and it beats the goalie—IT’S GOOD. INDEED, his ball was found at the back of the CG 6’x 6’.

END OF FULL TIME BEARS 14 CRUSADERS 14

The first 4 minutes of O/T saw both teams have two chances to score for naught.

END OF 1^ST O/T BEARS 14 CRUSADERS 14

The second four minutes of overtime started with Freshman Talen Smith win at X. After consultation with the coaches, Chase started the ball goalie far right and inverted to X. He moved the ball to Kevin who had the GWG @ 3:03. PANDEMONIUM on one end of the field, DESPAIR on the other.

FINAL SCORE BEARS 15 CRUSADERS 14

4/22 at SSSA 4:30