Quarter 1

Winning the opening sprint after a fight for the ball, the Cubs wasted their offensive possession and turned the ball over quickly. Their defense continues the trend from last game of being rock solid, resulting in an exclusion for the opponent after a foul. The Cubs don’t take advantage of the extra man, though, and send their shot straight at the keeper, something they repeat on the very next offensive possession after a quick stop. Engstrom steals the ball but the Cubs waste yet another opportunity with a poor shot. Oaks Christian isn’t much better as they, too produce a lackluster shot. The Cubs can’t seem to get anything past the solid Oaks keeper but their defense doesn’t let them down as they get stop after stop. Unfortunately, the Cubs suffer two exclusions on the same possession to put them down two men, but the second Reynolds is allowed back in, he comes up with a clutch steal to take back possession. The subsequent possession results in another disappointing shot at the keeper. The Cubs continue their strong defensive performance with a block by Altmayer. The Lions suffer another exclusion but the Cubs fail to convert on the man advantage for the third time of the match. Neither team had been able to produce anything of substance on offense due to the staunch defense both teams came out with.

Score 0-0

Quarter 2

The first offensive possession of the second quarter belongs to the Cubs after they win the opening sprint. The possession results in a turnover, but the Cubs make up for it by stealing the ball right back. The Cubs then earn a man advantage as the Lion stake another ejection but send the shot straight at the keeper. Off of a quick counter attack, the Lions finally break through the deadlock and score on an open net off of a lob. The Cubs then make a few substitutions and find themselves with a one on one opportunity with the keeper which the keeper wins. The Cubs stop the offense quickly and nearly score a goal that the referee insists was on the line. The Cubs get out extremely quickly and find the goal at last on a Kranz goal to tie the game. The Cubs give up another goal straight away, though, off of a strong shot that hits the post and goes in. The Lions look to get the ball out quickly and succeed but they fail to convert as Mueller gets big and stuffs the shot. Off the block, the Cubs earn themselves a man advantage from yet another Lions exclusion. Coach Erik Healy immediately calls a timeout to organize his team’s attack. During the timeout, the opposing team’s bench player received a red card for his sideline comments and was thus thrown out for the remainder of the match. The Cubs worked the ball around nicely out of the break but eventually give the ball up again. The team suffers an exclusion and give up the third Lions goal as a consequence. Straight after the goal, the Cubs offense looked stagnant as the opposition’s goalie again showed his excellence. The Cubs win an exclusion with ten seconds left in the quarter but again can’t seem to beat the strong Lion keeper.

Score 1-3

Quarter 3

During halftime Coach Healy strongly advocates for “skip shots against this goalie” further interjecting to “not overthink it.” The opening sprint sees the Cubs lose the opening offensive possession to a faster Lion but stop the Lion offense quickly. The Cubs work the ball around nicely but a careless error gives the possession back to the Lions. The shot clock runs out on the Lions giving the Cubs a prime opportunity which they literally throw away into the hands of the keeper. The Cubs get out quickly again and produce a quality shot to the corner but an excellent save keeps the ball out of the net. A mental lapse by the Cubs gives the Lions another goal straight of the stellar save. Vavic works for an opportunity and is awarded with a goal that brings the home team back within two. After the goal, the Cubs steal the ball and turn the defense into offense as they convert with nearly zero time on the shot clock. The crowd loves it as cheers of “Let’s go Cubs!” emerge from the stands. Right away, the Cubs go a man down after the goal because of an exclusion. The call results in a timeout from the Lions head coach which proves fruitless as the Cubs only give up a weak shot. The Cubs run the shot clock all the way down without getting a shot off on their offensive possession, though. The Cubs steal the ball and force an exclusion but throw the ball away on a golden chance. The Lions run out of time on their chance to score, and the Cubs respond with an offensive foul on their part to end the quarter.

Score 3-4

Quarter 4

The Cubs take the opening sprint and use their time with the ball to win a penalty. Vavic coolly converts from the spot to tie the game! “Let’s go Cubs!” rings throughout the pool, but the Lions come down and score to take the lead. The Cubs don’t get the foul call they hope for on offense and end up with a poor shot because of it. Despite a foul, the Cubs get the ball back quickly and force the Lions to take another exclusion. The Cubs come out of the timeout and completely squander the man advantage with an awful shot. Worse still, the Cubs give up a goal straight after the possession. Agliozzo produces a wonder to the top left to cut the Cubs deficit to one again. The Lions take a shot from distance which nearly beats Mueller but comes up empty. The Cubs win themselves an advantage but waste it AGAIN as only two minutes and thirty-four seconds remain for the Cubs to mount a comeback. Coach Healy calls a timeout for his team to get a rest while he extrapolates on strategy. Out of the timeout, the Lions turn the ball over and the Cubs counter-attack shot hits inside of the crossbar but lands on the line as the Cubs are robbed of another heartbreakingly close goal. The Cubs steal the ball back again on the defensive end, and Coach Healy uses one of the few timeouts that remain with a minute and thirty-seven seconds to play. The timeout gets the Cubs an average shot, but the rebound comes out for a jump ball the Cubs win. Altmayer produces a BEAUTIFUL lob that ties the game with a mere minute to play.  Unfortunately, the Cubs suffer an ejection right after the scoring play. The Cubs get the ball back off a Lions shot that hits the right post and call a timeout to draw up a play for the twenty seconds that are left in regulation. Chants for the Cubs echo throughout the pool as the Cubs run the play that gives them the score to take the lead with only SEVEN seconds left in the fourth. Kranz scores a truly epic bucket to lift the Cubs over the Oaks Christian Lions by forcing the ball into the net off of a delayed version of a stupendous play call by Coach Healy.

Score 7-6

Post-Game Interview

Coach Healy commented after the game that the team had the essential “never-say-die attitude” throughout the game, “the team never thought they were going to lose.” That assertion was far from certain for most of the match as the Cubs really struggled throughout the first three quarters and especially in the first half. Healy elaborated further saying, “We were very poor in 6 on 5 opportunities and our shot selection was very weak.” Lastly, the coach commented that the team is playing with “some confidence to go along with excellent conditioning” which he hopes to take full advantage of in next week’s rivalry matchup with the Harvard Westlake Wolverines in the penultimate game of league play.