Boys' LAX Confidence Stumbles in New Providence Loss

It was a disappointing ending to a frustrating game.

The Cranford boys' lacrosse team had just come off a thrilling one-goal victory over rival Johnson on Senior Night, and had momentum in their corner.

But visiting New Providence had another idea, scoring the last goal in this back-and-forth battle with less than two minutes to go to stage the 9-8 upset at Memorial Field.

"I think the most important thing was that New Providence came here to play," said Cranford head coach Al Reinoso. "They did not come here in awe in any way, shape or form. They came with their 'A' game, and they came to play a good, hard four quarters. There was a huge difference in our play from the other night against Johnson. We just weren't able to match New Prov's intensity and their execution. They deserved to win."

"Today's game is a disappointment because we expected to win this one," said captain Steve DiGiovanni, who tallied three goals and two assists. "We thought it was going to come easy, but obviously it didn't. We need a reality check at tomorrow's practice."

Cranford defeated Johnson Tuesday night 10-9 in their annual Senior Night game in front of a huge and happy home crowd.

"We were all prepared Senior Night and we were all fired up for the Johnson game, because we had never beaten them," said DiGiovanni. "It was a big overtime victory. But I think we just prepared more for that game than for this game."

Cranford was right in the mix every step of the way, with Michael Sheehan adding two goals and Tom Fitzgerald, Jonathan Rubin and Eric Knight adding one apiece. Rubin also pocketed three assists, while Bobby Anstatt notched 14 saves in the cage.

"At halftime, we pulled up the bootstraps a little bit and played better in the third and fourth quarters," said Reinoso. We were able to get back in the game and get a lead, a small lead, but they were scrappy. I was talking to their coach and he said that was their game of the season so far. It's just one of those things in high school sports, they played their A-plus game, and we weren't able to match that."

The Cougars are in the middle of another solid season, but Reinoso knows what he needs his team to work on is getting back their focus and swagger.

"We're just looking to rebound, we have to get our confidence back," Reinoso said. "Maybe we were a little over-confident after our big victory and now we suffer a major setback. Now we have to find a way to get our confidence level back to where it is high enough so that we can compete like we were doing."

"Next game, we're just going to have to take our team down the sidelines without the coaches and get a reality check," said DiGiovanni, a team captain. "We need to make sure everybody's doing their job, moving right, and finishing."

The Cougars, now 5-3 on the season, will travel to face Livingston on Saturday in a game which has quickly become much more important as the state tournament cutoff approaches.

"It's a huge game," said Reinoso. "That team is a quality team and on the rise after a couple of years of being down. We need to come in with a big effort."

Livingston's a tough team," said DiGiovanni. "We don't play well in our away games sometimes, and I just want everybody focused, get out of our bus legs, and we're going to come to play."