In Matchup of Undefeateds, Chatham Boys' Lacrosse Stands Strong

The Chatham Cougars defeated the West Essex Knights in a matchup of undefeated teams on Tuesday at Cougar Field by a final score of 12-7.

A crowd on hand that featured various reporters and camera crews documented the big time matchup of the two lacrosse powerhouses, and early on, the game lived up to its competitive billing. West Essex gained early momentum, but the Knights found themselves unable to beat Chatham senior goaltender Mac Nestler.  West Essex senior Tom Black hit the post on one scoring effort.

The West Essex defense was solid for the first six minutes of the first quarter as it played physical with Chatham shooters.Senior John LoCascio and junior Tyler Fossetta played outstanding in jointly covering Chatham star scorer Rob Guida in the first, but it was only a matter of time before Guida struck.

Guida scored the first two goals of the game and assisted Sean Whiteman on the third, giving Chatham the first quarter lead, but West Essex was not turned aside easily.  Senior Tom Martin connected on the team's next two scoring chances off of Chatham turnovers, and the Knights went in at the half down one.

"In the first half, we had a lot of good chances, and we just didn't put away shots," said Chatham Head Coach Anthony Calandra. "Them hanging with us was a real gut check."  

The halftime score was the closest Chatham has experienced all season.

"We knew that they would be tough," said Guida.

West Essex built upon that momentum in the third quarter, tying the game at three on a shot from junior Joe Fusco off of a nicely placed pass from Martin. But the relatively dormant Chatham offense awoke and took over immediately after Fusco's goal.

"We jumped on them, and our offense really started clicking in the second half," said Guida.              

Guida quickly pulled down an interception of a West Essex pass and took it on a fast break to score his third goal of the game. From then on, the Cougar offense would roll.

"We can score in bunches," said Calandra.

The Cougars would score the next three goals against West Essex and continue to pile on the offense, which wore down a tired West Essex defense. Jack Beatty and Sean Whiteman would add goals of their own and the Cougars pulled away from a deflated West Essex team.                

All in all, Guida scored six goals and added one assist against a physical West Essex defense that found itself overmatched by the Chatham offense.

"It's almost impossible to stop him," said West Essex Head Coach Timothy Glenn.  

The Cougars look to remain undefeated as they play West Morris Central High School on Thursday. Calandra, while pleased with his team's performance, downplayed the importance of the win.

"It's a conference win against an undefeated team, " he said. "But we've got a lot of fish to fry."