Chatham Boys' Lacrosse Can't Get Over Hump Against Kinnelon

During the first quarter of the Chatham boys' lacrosse team's game against Kinnelon, the Cougars appeared to be firing on all cylinders. Jack Eisenreich scored an early goal to put the Cougars up 1-0, goaltender Mac Nestler made several saves and forward Nick Guida forced two turnovers—one on a wild pass out of bounds by Kinnelon goalie Matt Diaco.

"We practiced hard all week," said Guida. "We were ready for the game."

But with time dwindling down in the first, Kinnelon worked the ball around the net, eventually scoring with three seconds left in the quarter. On the ensuing faceoff, Chatham was called for a three-minute non-releasable stick violation, and Kinnelon played those first three minutes of the second a man up. The Colts scored three times during that period and hung on for a 7-5 victory in the Morris County Tournament quarterfinals.

Head Coach Anthony Calandra said he didn't want to entirely blame the loss on that three-minute period to begin the second quarter. But he said it certainly didn't help his team.

"I thought we got outplayed," he said. "We knew we had to come out and win the ground ball battle and we didn't win it."

Mike Crampton scored a couple of goals during the three-minute penalty, and Steve Grembowiec scored at the nine minute mark to give third-seeded Kinnelon its 4-1 lead. Kinnelon also hit a couple of posts with shots during the span.

The sixth-seeded Cougars, however, clawed back. Rob Guida whirled around and shot the ball into the net at the 7:45 mark to make the score 4-2 and Matt Proto scored soon afterward to pull the Cougars to within one goal.

But Kinnelon scored two more before the half to take a 6-3 lead going into the break.

Nick Guida scored off a pass from Proto to make the score 6-4 toward the beginning of the third period, but Kinnelon's Parker Waldron quickly answered, running around the net and putting in a shot that beat Nestler from up close.

It was the final goal the Colts would score on the day. Nestler finished with 21 saves.

"Our defense had a lot of great stops," said Nick Guida.

Rob Guida scored early in the third to cut Chatham's deficit to 7-5, and the Cougars then had the ball for long stretches of time but couldn't put the ball past Diaco. The Kinnelon goaltender also made several stops to preserve his team's lead, and Chatham came up empty.

The two teams have a history together—the Cougars lost to Kinnelon in the Group 1 final last year. But Chatham's players still feel confident they can defeat the Colts.

"We're hoping to get Kinnelon again in the state playoffs and turn it around," Nick Guida said.

And when asked whether he thought his team could beat the Colts, Calandra wasted no time sharing his opinion.

"Absolutely," he said. "Absolutely."