5/9/2011 - Boys Lax Tourney Should Be Good One
There was something missing from last year’s Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Tournament boys lacrosse championship game.
More specifically, a team from Sussex County.
Although Sussex County schools made up eight of the 13 teams in the tourney, it was Hunterdon Central and North Hunterdon which made it to the final with the Red Devils coming away with the crown.
That should change this year with Sparta and Vernon playing in one half of the bracket and unless there is a huge upset, one of those teams should make it to the final May 18 at 6 p.m. at Vernon. The tourney quarterfinals are May 13 and the semifinals May 16 at the home of the highest remaining seed.
So which team will it be? You will have to read the rest of the blog to find out. How’s that for a teaser?
Here is a breakdown of the first-round matchups slated for Wednesday, May 11 at the highest seed.
(13) HIGH POINT AT (4) VOORHEES---High Point (0-8) is still looking for its first win of the season, but the Wildcats under coach Marc Russell have improved tremendously in their second year of varsity play.
Matt DiPiano is a big, physical presence, but he can also score and is the Wildcats’ top all-around player and he is just a sophomore. Mike LaForgia and Adam Sandve are good on the attack, while Tom Dolan, Zach Mathes and Tyler Mathes are also very physical. Mike Park anchors the defense in front of keeper Rich Vogel.
Voorhees (4-8) is an established program and the Vikings fell to Sparta 9-5 earlier in the season. The Vikings will look to Christian Prince in goal and the Raposo brothers, Anthony and Zack, on the attack.
Look for the Vikings to advance in a hard-hitting affair.
(12) WALLKILL VALLEY AT (5) NORTH HUNTERDON---Wallkill Valley (3-9) has played well in moments this season but the Rangers’ lack of depth hurts. Tyler Wally, Kaje Cowans, John Anthoney Stewart and Andy Landolfi can all score with Wally being by far the Rangers’ top player.
The Rangers’ hard-hitting defense is paced by Freddy Bolio and the bone-crunching Bobby Russell, who as a sophomore is a man-child. John Whelan has been solid in goal and keeps the Rangers in most games.
North Hunterdon (3-11) plays one of the most demanding schedules in West Jersey, so as the saying goes, don’t let the record fool you. The Lions beat Delaware Valley 14-5 and played very tough in losses to Hunterdon Central 9-3 and Somerville 13-12 in OT.
The Lions’ best win was their last one, a triple-overtime defeat of Rizk Division leader Glen Rock 8-7. North counts on Matt Berry, Pierce Hyldahl and Nick Bologno.
Wallkill will hang for a while but North Hunterdon wins this one fairly easily.
(11) NEWTON AT (6) DELAWAREVALLEY--- Newton, like High Point, is in its second season of varsity play and the Braves (4-9) under coach Brian Bennington have made huge strides this season.
Newton knocked off Kittatinny 5-4 to win the Beatty Cup and it just bumped off Pooley Division foe Boonton 8-7. The Braves are great in the transition with Jon Brideau and Kenny Bruscia., while Kiel Diettrich is terrific getting things going from the back. Goalie Kyle Morel is tough between the pipes.
Del Val (3-8) looks to Mike Rodgers, James Harabian and goalie Dan Rose. Despite the Braves’ great improvement, the Terriers will win this one, but Newton will put up a fight.
(10) KITTATINNY AT (7) NORTH WARREN---This is by far the most intriguing matchup of the first round and in my view truly a toss-up.
Both squads are extremely young and feature two of the top snipers in the Mugs Media area in Joey Chayka of North Warren and Kevin Knissel of Kittatinny.
North (5-7) plays in the very tough Klank Division which houses Morristown. The Pats look to Nolan Robertson, a fine all-round player whose motor never slows down, Trent Simmons, Brian Wilbur and Kyle Pollard to help lift the scoring load off of Chayka.
Goalie Greg Geueke will have to be on his game to slow down Knissel.
Knissel has scored almost half of the Cougars’ goals this season and is a threat from anywhere on the field. Jerry Hendershot runs the Kittatinny (7-3) attack, while Garrett Armstrong and Ryan Chenard are also dangerous.
Mike Sheehy leads the defense in front of keeper Jake Drelick.
This one has OT written all over it but I will go with the Cougars from Kittatinny in a great one.
(9) LENAPE VALLEY AT (8) POPE JOHN--- Right now, Pope John (5-9) is the team that no one wants to play. The Lions have taken their lumps this season and endured a seven-game losing streak before turning things around with an impressive 10-7 win over Vernon and the Lions have not lost since, winning four in a row.
Zach Johannes and Matt Pepe are as good as its gets, while youngsters Randy May, Davis Stoner and Ian Murdoch have really stepped it up for first-year coach Lou Occhicone.
Shawn Laverty is also very dangerous on the attack along with Matt Schlagenhaft. PJ’s defense has been key in its latest run. Goalie Matt Silverman has been solid and defenders Quentin Christiano and Alex Warner anchor the unit.
Lenape Valley (6-4) fell to the Lions in this game last year 16-6, but the Pats have shown they can play with anyone this year. Coach Kevin Earl looks to a talented attack crew of Mike Squillante, who is a demon on faceoffs, Joey McMahon and Kyle Shannon.
Zack Southard leads the defense in front of goalie Chad DiRupo, an experienced man between the pipes.
In what should be a good one, I think Pope John has just too many weapons and the Lions will outscore the Pats in a high-octane affair and gain the opportunity to knock off top-seeded Hunterdon Central in the quarterfinals.
The top three seeds received a bye into the quarterfinals. Defending champion Hunterdon Central (11-4) will roll into the final in its part of the bracket as the tourney’s No. 1 seed.
Led by coach Mike Vergalito, the Red Devils are loaded and are 2-2 against top 20 teams with wins over Chatham 8-6 and Bridgewater 6-5. HC fell to state-powers Ridgewood and Immaculata in a good one 15-11.
Some of the Red Devils’ top players are Blake Searfoss, Mike Furstenburg, Brian Rikenbach and keeper Jake Anderson.
Sparta (8-4), under first-year coach Chris Bivona, is the top team in the Mugs Media area with wins over Vernon, PJ and Jefferson, plus the 9-5 win over Voorhees.
It all starts with the defense for the Spartans with John Figarelli, Chad Steinetz, Jeff Andrews, Steven Viegas and Keith Bellsheim forming a wall in front of keeper Steve Antonucci.
Sparta likes to run and the Spartans have terrific finishers in Kyle Enchemedia and George Hoffman. Colin Sullivan, Tommy Keller, Jack Lavecchia, Mike McCaffrey and Devin Gendron are also very capable of putting up big numbers.
When healthy, Will McHugh might be the best faceoff man in the area.
Vernon (8-5) came into the season with hopes and the Vikings will look to finish strong with a good showing in the tourney. Coach Harry Shortway’s squad is very disciplined and fundamentally sound.
Joe Kazcur is a scoring machine and has the ability to light teams up for seven goals on any given night. Jackie Jernick might be the Vikes’ top player and is all over the field, while Colin Purdue can also score. Frank Russi leads the defense in front of goalie Kyle Katzenberger.
The way I see things, Sparta will play Vernon a second time and the Spartans will pull off the win. In the first meeting Jernick was banged up, which hurt the Vikes’ cause, but Sparta has too much to deal with and the Spartans will advance to the final.
In a competitive final, where Sparta will have to play smart, ball-control offense like it did last year in its tough loss to Mendham in the states, HC will once again raise the trophy.
But on the bright side, there will be a Sussex team in the final and that is a start.
That’s it for now, see you on the sidelines.
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