Boys’ LAX Falls For First Time This Season

Despite Friday's 11-2 final score, the Cranford boys' varsity lacrosse team played better than the numbers indicate against state power Glen Ridge, at least for the first half.

The Cougars trailed after two quarters by a 2-1 score, right in the hunt for a major upset, before things fell apart in the third stanza. But it was a strong first half that proved they can hang tough with anybody.

"They're a legit, bonafide, top-20 in the state team with multiple collegiate players," said Cranford head coach Al Reinoso. "I was happy with the way we hung tough in the first half, but it was a tale of two halves, two separate games. Once they got their legs under them and started hitting their stride offensively, it was really hard to stop. They went on a little bit of a run in the beginning of the third quarter, and we couldn't get anything. We had maybe one or two shots in the entire third quarter, and that turned the whole game around."

"I think we played very well in the first half, we had good possession time," said Matt Frediani. "Our defense was playing strong. The second half I think what killed us was all of our penalties. We were playing man-down pretty much the whole third quarter and that shifted the whole momentum of the game and we dug ourselves into a hole."

The positive aspects did not go unnoticed by the coaching staff.

"We're going to make sure we emphasize the positives that we did do: played even with them in the first half, limited them to three shots in the first half, which is tremendous," said Reinoso. "That team plays all the best in the state, and they'll compete for a state group title."

"We stepped our game up from all the games we played," Frediani said. "We possessed a lot better than we have and we need to continue to do that throughout the whole game. If we had done that in the third and fourth quarter, it would have been a totally different game. They're very good. They're quick, they finish. They take their shots and they finish their shots."

Reinoso wants to see his squad play every game just like they did in the first half.

"I was very proud of the way we played, especially defensively in the first half," he said. "Offensively, too, we had nice slow possessions, we only had one goal, we would to have liked to have had one or two more, but they're so tough defensively, that they limit your shots. But that's exactly the style that we wanted and practiced for."

Reinoso had high praise for his midfielders, who kept Glen Ridge at bay early on.

"Both middie groups did an excellent job," he said. "We stayed in man-to-man defensive looks the entire first half, and we were able to slow them down. What we were worried about were some of our midfielders, if we were going to be able to run with their midfielders, who are excellent and very good athletes, and we were able to do that. Guys like Eric Knight, Pat Kaskiw and Michael Sheehan, they did an excellent job defensively in the first half, a key that enabled us to stay close to them."

The Cougars, now 3-1 on the season, will take to the road to battle Caldwell on Tuesday. Game time is scheduled for 4 pm. Check Cranford Patch for full coverage.