Behind six goals from junior and Notre Dame commit Nicholas Lagunowich, the Chatham High School (N.J.) Boy’s Lacrosse train keeps chugging along, as it beat Shawnee, 13-6, Saturday afternoon at Cougar Field.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!After capturing the Morris County Tournament title against perennial powerhouse Delbarton, the Cougars refused to allow a letdown against Shawnee, performing well against a talented team.
“We were riding a great high off of Tuesday win but knew we couldn’t let that get to our heads,” Lagunowich explained. “And we had to come out firing. First half was a little slow, but thanks to C.C.’s (Christian Ciciola) big goal, he really sparked us, and we got it going, and finished strong,”
“I think we played a very good game,” Chatham head coach Christian Scarpello noted said. “Certainly, a slow start in the first quarter, and some sloppiness. But overall, we did enough to win. They played very good lacrosse. You can nick pick, but I’m proud of the wat they played.”
Lagunowich made his presence felt early on, finding the back of the net twice for a 2-0 Chatham (13-3) lead.
But the Renegades (11-4) answered back with a marker of their own to slice the deficit in half with 3;45 to go in the first quarter.
Senior Lochlan Mahoney blasted one by Shawnee’s goalie for 3-1 advantage early in the second period.
Next, Lagunowich rang up another tally to extend the Cougars’ lead to 4-1 with 9:48 remaining in the second half.
But again, the Renegades cut the advantage in half at 4-2 with 4:51 to go in the second quarter with less than five minutes left in the second quarter.
However, senior Ryan Hoffelder responded with a goal for a 5-2 lead with 3:26 to go in the half before the Renegades drew the game to 5-3 with over a minute left before the break.
Off a defensive miscue, Shawnee capitalized and brought the contest to a one-goal (5-4) advantage with 5:52 to go in the third period.
But Chatham sophomore Ciciola picked up a huge marker of his own to ingnite his team a 6-4 lead with 5:45 remaining in the third quarter.
Then, goals by juniors Charlie Dunn and Lagunowich, plus senior Kyle Gibney swelled the Cougars’ advantage to 9-4 with 3:38 left in the period.
While the Renegades found the back of the net to make it a four-score tilt, Chatham markers from Gibney, Dunn and Shep Boyd increased its lead to 12-5 with 6:08 to go in the game.
Shawnee recorded a goal, but Lagunowich banged home two consecutive tallies to cap contest’s scoring, as the Cougars won comfortably.
Ciciola won eight of nine draws and scooped up seven ground balls, while junior Cormac Leahy had four ground balls. Lagunowich added two assists in the victory.
Freshman Mason McGovern registered three markers for the Renegades.
Chatham faces West Morris Tuesday at 4:30 at home in the regular season finale.
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— Jerry Del Priore