Cambridge Men pull back to win in overtime
23/01/2010
Cambridge won 6-5
One cloudy Saturday afternoon in January saw the Cambridge Blues Lacrosse team turn out their greatest performance of the year so far, and continued the 2010 winning streak in superb fashion. Cambridge played host to Portsmouth University as they fought out a close run contest in the second round of Flags (a knockout cup competition) to go through to the Semi Finals.
From the first whistle, the teams appeared evenly matched and it was clear that it would be a war of attrition, with the Portsmouth attack able to hold the ball confidently, but the Cambridge defence able to match them for speed and skill in almost every respect. In the early periods of the game, Cambridge found themselves on the back foot as their attack barely saw the ball. When the ball was successfully cleared, there was a tendency to rush and lose the ball once again, barely giving the defence time to rest.
Fortunately, the experienced Cambridge defence made up of Blair Lapres, James Dods and Jordan Kemp, were more than ready to step up to the challenge. Every attempt at goal from Portsmouth was met with a solid body hit or a heavy stick check, and though they were able to retain possession, the good news for Cambridge was that Portsmouth were unable to do much with the ball.
However, it was Portsmouth who scored first. After a terrible lack of communication between the referee and the Cambridge defence, the game was restarted after a penalty while the Blues were still distracted and Portsmouth took advantage of the opportunity. Nevertheless, Cambridge were only down 1-0 after the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Cambridge attack managed to hold the ball better when they got it, but still were denied an early goal. The Portsmouth goalie made some important saves, and so it was only a matter of time before the Blues got their first goal, coming from the part man, part machine attack man Todd Nichols. Once again, Portsmouth still held the ball for great portions of the quarter and managed to edge in front after a well finished goal that just managed to escape the Cambridge defence.
Both teams still had everything the play for. Portsmouth University had travelled a long way and were desperate for the win, but Cambridge had the ability, and just needed the focus to swing things back their way. Sadly, the Blues were struggling at the beginning of the third quarter as they quickly conceded two goals, and after 10 minutes, a third went in. Cambridge were 5-1 down to a now confident Portsmouth side who began to ease the pressure in attack, instead attempting to hold the ball to run down the clock.
However, Cambridge weren’t about to quit without a fight. Phil Hall struggled against a strong face-off opponent at the beginning of the game, but was now able to win more and more frequently and come up with the ball. Once again, Todd Nichols scored an incredible under arm shot that the goalie could do nothing about, followed quickly by a third, and Cambridge managed to salvage some of the stability they had lacked after half time.
The fourth quarter team facing Portsmouth was an entirely different entity. The defence pushed out more, knowing that they had to win the ball back if they were to win the game. The Portsmouth attack continued to threaten the goal, but was shut out by Captain Sam Spurrell who made 5 saves and the capable defence in front of him. In midfield, Phil Hall won all of the face-offs to give Cambridge some more time with the ball, and in attack Nichols completed his scoring of the day with two more goals, one was assisted by Duncan Barrigan and Cambridge now brought the scores back to 5-5.
The momentum now stood with Cambridge who could feel the change in atmosphere as the pressure mounted and the team resolved to keep fighting for the win. There was to be two periods of extra time in which both teams tested the defence, but there was no success as the score remained 5-5. In complete contrast to the first quarter, Cambridge were now almost entirely attacking the Portsmouth goal. Every attempt to clear the ball by Portsmouth was thwarted and it was only some good saves by their goalie that kept them in the game.
After extra time, the game went to golden goal. The first team to score a goal would win and the pressure just continued to mount. The first Cambridge attempt at goal was slammed into the goalies chest, forcing Cambridge to recover to ball and try again. At the end of the second period of golden goal, Barrigan stood with the ball behind the goal. He drove round the right hand side and sent a pass in to Ian Ralby on the crease who faked once and dumped the ball over the goalie’s head. It was an incredible win for Cambridge as they managed to come from 5-1 down to eventually win 6-5 after four periods of extra time.
By Sam Spurrell