Boys' Lacrosse Loses Overtime Heartbreaker to Mendham

MENDHAM — When the Chatham boys' lacrosse team went up 6-4 with little time left in the fourth quarter, it looked as if they would have a very good chance to win its away game against Mendham on Thursday.

Goals had been difficult to come by throughout the game. Neither team scored in the third quarter, and it was only in the fourth quarter that Chatham turned on its offense in earnest, scoring three quick goals in succession to take the 6-4 lead.

But Mendham came roaring back to tie the game at 6-6. And, after Chatham failed to score on the first possession of overtime, Mendham's Matt Crimmins put a shot from in close past senior goaltender Mac Nestler to give the Minutemen a 7-6 victory.

"We allowed them to stay in the game," said Chatham Head Coach Anthony Calandra. "We played hard, but we didn't take advantage of opportunities."

The teams finished the game's first quarter tied at one before Chatham's Rob Guida got going. Guida, who is the team's top scorer, scored two goals in the second period.

But Chatham gave up two power play goals to Mendham during the quarter and finished the half tied at three. Mendham goaltender John Haumerson made several clutch saves on Chatham chances to keep the game tied. He finished the game with 20 saves.

Haumerson and Nestler were both solid in a third quarter that saw Mendham hold the ball for long stretches of time. The Minutemen, however, were unable to score on any of those chances.

They were, however, able to capitalize on a chance in the early fourth quarter, when Tyler Purdue scord to put Mendham up 4-3. Guida, however, soon afterward quickly ran down the field and scored almost at will to tie the game at four, and Chatham's Kyle Howard-Johnson then put in a mid-range shot to give Chatham a 5-4 lead. Jack Eisenreich then battled through Mendham defenders to put in a goal of his own and Chatham went up, 6-4.

But Mendham wouldn't be denied. After a shot from the right beat Nestler, Chatham turned the ball over after winning a faceoff and soon afterward was penalized for unnecessary roughness with 2:18 to go. The Minutemen took advantage of the opportunity as they scored with 1:25 to go to tie the game and eventually send the game into overtime.

Chatham had a chance to win it at the end of the game, but Haumerson saved a Jack Beattie shot in the waning seconds. Chatham then had the first possession of overtime, but couldn't score; Mendham then took a timeout when it won possession and quickly scored to take the victory.

The Cougars will face Randolph on Saturday at 7 p.m. in an away game. But Calandra said the team needs to improve before then.

"We've just got to get better," Calandra said. There was no particular area where the team needs to improve, he said—it needs to work on all aspects of its game.

Correction: Mendham's Brendan Adams did not score the game-tying goal, as was previously reported.