Quarter 1

Losing the opening sprint, the Cubs use the first defensive possession to come up with a steal and draw a quick exclusion. However, they waste the opportunity and fail to score, but the Cubs steal the ball back after the missed shot and find Altmayer for a finish with only the keeper in his way. The Cubs suffer an exclusion after the goal, though, but manage to maintain defensive formation and keep the Mustangs from scoring. On the other end, the Cubs take an ill-advised shot that ends up in the Costa keeper’s arms. The missed shot leads to a natural goal on the offensive end for Mira Costa who level the game. As a response, the Cubs take a shot that bangs off the crossbar as the shot clock expires. The Mustangs fail to produce anything on their offensive possession, but the Cubs aren’t much better when they only produce an average shot for their offense. The Mustangs come up with a big goal off of a beautiful skip shot that sends the home crowd into a frenzy. The Cubs aren’t able to produce anything of substance on offense, but manage to make sure their defensive presence known. The referee lets a foul that would warrant a Cubs penalty go, and the Head Coach Erik Healy appeals to no avail. The Cubs look okay defensively but are really struggling offensively, failing to produce many chances of note at all. Out of the quarter, Erik Healy implors the team to “move around on offense. … We’re being stagnant, and we won’t score like that.”

Score 1-2

Quarter 2

The Cubs again lose the opening sprint, but Kranz intercepts the pass, leading to an exclusion. The Cubs again look poor offensively, failing to produce any substantial chance. Defense does transition to offense, eventually, though, as a steal allows an Agliozzo score off an extra pass that left nobody in front of the net. The Cubs work the ball around magnificently on the next offensive opportunity, but the quality shot clangs off the bar. Mira Costa can’t produce anything as the shot clock runs out on their offensive possession, but the Cubs give them the ball back immediately. The Cubs make sure the Mustangs wane down the clock, but an unexpected shot from the offense finds the back of the Loyola goal. The crowd goes wild as the Mustangs hit one off the bar to nearly double their lead. The Cubs come up with another defensive but an offensive foul gives the ball right back to Mira Costa. Mueller is having a poor game, and the Mustangs beat him off of a distance shot for the fourth time this match as a consequence. The Cubs lob a pass to the far corner but produce a weak shot that the keeper catches. Their defense remains strong, however, as they again steal the ball. Finally, the Cubs are able to convert a high-percentage shot from Kranz to cut the Mustangs lead in half. The Cubs get one last shot off to finish the half, but the Mira Costa goalie continues a solid performance with yet another stop.

Score 3-4

Quarter 3

The Cubs lose the sprint for the third time on the bounce  but demonstrate that the defense is a constant as they steal the ball once more. The shot they produce, on the other hand, is okay at best as it hits about three Mira Costa players’ arms. Off of a deflection, Altmayer finds the equalizer for the Cubs and the bench erupts. Defensively, the Cubs force a quick shot and run out quickly for what eventually becomes a disappointing deflected shot. The Mustangs throw the ball away on their possession, and the Cubs force an exclusion to go up a man. The Cubs use the advantage to score off of the extra pass. Agliozzo helps the Cubs go up for the first time of the game. The Cubs follow it up with a steal right away, but a foul from the Mustangs limits the Cubs to a much poorer opportunity that gets batted away. The Mustangs need a timeout, and come out with a planned play that results miserably as Vavic steals the ball for an opportunity that leads to a penalty. The penalty shot clangs off the right post, but the Cubs are there for the rebound and force an exclusion almost immediately. Coach Healy yells for a timeout to set up a play for the Cubs who now have the man advantage. The Cubs work the ball around beautifully and Altmayer lobs the ball into the back of the net. Altmayer gets kicked out of the game for good while celebrating, though. The Cubs come up with a clutch steal as the shot clock winds down to score for the seventh time of the match. Kranz finished the beautiful lob to extend the lead. Play temporarily stops as there is a lightning scare. The Mustangs come up with an amazing chance, but Mueller makes a truly fantastic save to prevent the near certain goal. The Cubs show their third quarter prowess, holding the opposition goalless while scoring four times themselves.

Score 7-4

Quarter 4

Play is temporarily suspended because of the continued concern with the lightning. During that time, Coach Healy gathers his team to maintain the focus saying, “We’ve got to stay focused. In this last fourth quarter, we’ve got to maintain the movement. Good things happen when we make sure we move… Make sure to be calm, don’t try to do too much. We need to win as a team.” After 30 minutes of deliberation, the coaches decided that the game would have to come to a conclusion. The decision came about after the lightning became more and more frequent and was eventually accompanied by constant thunder. Their decision proved wise as mother nature decided to shed all the water her clouds contained at once. In the blink of an eye, sparse lightning turned into heavy rain with both lightning and thunder. The game will neither be finished nor replayed.

Score 7-4