From LBPOSTSports.com: It was five years ago, on January 22, 2004—that was the last time the Wilson Bruins had lost a Moore League match, a 3-1 contest with Lakewood. Since then, they hired a new coach, Jason Kirkwood, who as of yesterday had yet to lose a league contest. The 61-game unbeaten streak was the fourth-longest in CIF history… until yesterday afternoon, when the Poly Jackrabbits finally got over the hump, using a torrid start and physical defense to fend off the Bruins, and winning 3-2 on their home field.
After the game, coach Kirkwood pointed out that it was bound to happen eventually. “I mean, Poly led at one point in I believe six out of the nine games we’ve beaten then since I’ve coached here.” But a relentless, well-conditioned Bruins attack had always been enough to overtake the Poly lead—including the first time the two teams met this season, when Poly got a goal in the eighth minute and looked like they’d win for most of the game, until Wilson scored two goals in the final ten minutes to pull a stunning 2-1 victory. The Poly lead they had to overcome in that contest, as in the prior five games that the ‘Rabbits led in but ultimately lost, was nothing like the tidal wave unleashed in the first ten minutes of play Tuesday afternoon.
Poly took two corners in the first five minutes of play, and capitalized early on their second try, which Jazmine Rhodes placed perfectly in front of the net, where sophomore Alexis Leyba toed it in for the fast 1-0 lead. There was some on-field celebration, but for the most part Poly was business-like, no doubt remembering the two teams’ first meeting this season. Just two minutes later, Allison Whalen sent a ball forward for Megan Brock, who netted it again, to make it 2-0 in the seventh minute. The ‘Rabbits team was jubilant, but their coach, Teri Collins, shut it down. “Keep it up!” she yelled. “It’s not enough!”
Apparently, her team took it to heart, as Rhodes set up Kasia Johnson, who put in yet another Poly goal, to make it 3-0. Even against the historically dominant defending national champions, the Poly sideline finally got comfortable, having taken a 3-0 lead on three shots, just ten minutes into the game. It was such a shocking turn of events that another sportswriter covering the game, who arrived fifteen minutes in, thought we were joking when we told him it was three-nil Poly.
Click here for the rest of the story by Mike Guardabascio, and here for a photo gallery by Stephen Dachman.