Boys' Lacrosse Pounces On Ridgewood

The Chatham Cougar boys' lacrosse team kicked off its season with an impressive victory at home over the Ridgewood High School Maroon by a final score of 10-2 on Thursday afternoon at Cougar Field.

Chatham started the first quarter fast, moving the ball quickly into Maroon territory. The Cougars gained an early 2-0 lead before Ridgewood Head Coach Mike Pounds called a timeout to settle his team down.

"We like to push in transition and have a motion style of play," said Chatham Head Coach Anthony Calandra, who used that strategy to keep the Maroon on the defensive. 

The Maroon responded with a goal from junior Vann Jorgensen, but their momentum would be short lived, as the Cougars would strike three times in the second quarter.

At halftime, Pounds encouraged his team, telling them they were "almost there" and that they were "not converting their [scoring] chances."  The team, however, couldn't muster up a consistent attack in the third quarter to keep pace with Chatham, which added three goals of its own in the third to build an insurmountable lead.

When Ridgewood did go on the offensive, the Cougar defense would close in a hurry, and the Maroon were forced into many miscues in the neutral zone. On numerous occasions, Maroon shooters were sent down to the turf before they were able to get a shot off on Chatham senior goaltender Mac Nestler. 

Nestler is coming off of season-ending knee surgery. But after what Calandra called a good preseason, he picked up right where he left off in Thursday's game.

"I thought he played great," Calandra said. "He's one of our captains, and coming off season ending surgery, he's eager to get out there."

Senior Rob Guida led the team in scoring, tallying seven points in total with three goals and four assists.

"Rob's a very special athlete—he's one of the quickest kids I've ever seen, he's powerful and fast," Calandra said. "He's one of the best lacrosse players in the state."

Though Guida was the team's leading scorer, it should be noted that other Chatham players also turned in solid performances. Sophomores Quinn Frenzel and Kyle Howard-Johnson each added two goals of their own, making it difficult for Ridgewood to focus solely on Guida, and sophomore Matt Proto unselfishly added to the team's offense with two assists of his own.                

The team has high expectations going into this season after it lost to Kinnelon in the state Group 1 championship last year.

Chatham looks to continue its winning ways when it travels to Seton Hall Prep on Wednesday.