The talk before No. 3 Chatham High School (N.J.) Boy’s lacrosse team’s semifinal Morris County Tournament (MCT) matchup with second-seeded Mountain Lakes (10-4) was to take care of unfinished business.
You see, the Cougars (8-5) lost a close one, 7-5, to the same squad last season in the MCT semis, not to mention giving them a lower seed than head coach Christian Scarpello said that they deserved. So, they were undeniably looking to exact revenge this time around.
Well, Chatham scored first on freshman Nicholas Lagunowich’s goal with 6:22 to go in the first quarter and never looked back en route to a 10-2 victory Saturday at Cougar Field.
“That is correct, that’s exactly correct,” Scarpello said with gusto when asked if they had unfished business up until that point. “We felt disrespected in getting the three seed. I think that gave us a little extra fire, and we felt disrespected, that’s for sure. “
Moreover, junior midfielder Cole Polemeni was adamant of not losing to the Lakers in this year’s MCT semis.
“They beat us in the semifinal last year,” Polemeni said. “Coming to our home turf, we were just going to put it on them, and we did.”
Lagunowich found the back of the net a little over two minutes later for a 2-0 lead. Senior attacker Charlie Lowe followed with a marker of his own to make it 3-0 with 3:13 remaining in the first period.
However, Mountain Lakes answered with a goal in its own to draw the Lakers to 3-1 with 1:41 left in the first quarter.
But Chatham’s Polemeni responded 0.21 seconds later to reclaim a three-goal advantage.
Polemeni added another tally, on an assist from Lowe, to swell the Cougars’ lead to 5-1 with 6:36 left in the first half.
While the offense was clicking on all cylinders, the unsung heroes of the afternoon were Chatham’s defense and senior goalkeeper Henry Davenport. Its defense also pestered the Lakers’ offense all game long, knocking them off kilter.
“I just saw the ball really well today,” said Davenport, who stopped 13 of 15 attempts. “Credit to my defense. Again, as always, keeping the shots to the side, making them easy shots and saves.”
Scarpello, in a particularly, gave credit to the Cougars’ overall up-the-middle action.
“We were stifling on defense,” Scarpello explained. “I think, our middle-of-the-field play was excellent. Our middle of the field was sloppy prior to today.”
Sophomore midfielder Shep Boyd threw his hat into the scoring ring, finding the back of the net, with a helper from senior attacker Colin Manitta, as he made it 6-1 with more than two minutes to go in the half.
Goals from Polemeni, midfielder Kyle Gibney, Lagunowich and Manitta in the second half capped Chatham’s scoring barrage at 10.
Lagunowich and Polemeni recorded three goals apiece to help lead the Cougars to triumph.
Chatham will face Delbarton Tuesday night at FDU-Florham in the MCT finals.
Cougars attempt to set up play for scoring shot.
— Jerry Del Priore
NY NJ Sports World/Brooklyn Sports World 