Boys' LAX Team Rebounds to Beat Millburn 8-6

After several tough losses, the Cranford boys' varsity lacrosse team was looking to get back on the winning track, and they did so in impressive fashion, defeating Millburn 8-6 Friday afternoon at Walnut Avenue field in Cranford.

Luke Diano fashioned four straight goals to lead the offensive attack.

"The team pulled together today," said Diano. "Ground balls, passing, catching. It was nice to have four goals to add to it. It was big, because now we can have more confidence in how we play. It's a momentum builder. So now maybe we can go on a win streak."

"It's a nice win against a solid team, it was really important for us to bounce back after two losses," said Cranford head coach Al Reinoso. "We improved on the specific things that we needed to going into next week."

The Cougars have been anxious to get back on the field since their loss to Caldwell on Tuesday.

"We kind of stagnated the last two games offensively," said Reinoso. "One, because Glen Ridge was so good offensively that we didn't have the ball a lot, and then against Caldwell, we just didn't move, we didn't run our offensive sets the way we needed to, and then what happens, we don't get on the board enough. Today, against another solid defense, we ran the offense a lot more effectively and we got much better results."

"It's a big win," said senior Pat Kaskiw. "We came off two losses. We didn't play our best against Caldwell, so we needed a big rebound game and I think we did it. I think teamwork was big. We were moving off the ball well, we were all getting into open space, and we're all helping each other out and staying positive."

It was a frustrating loss for the Millers, who continue to play close games only to come up a tad short.

"I think we played remarkably well down the stretch," said Millburn head coach Brian Zusi. "It got a little ugly early. We came back from it, called time out and settled everybody down. Hand it to Cranford, they played a great game. Coach Reinoso has these guys prepared. And they play hard. It was a hard-fought game. I think it was a matter of running out of time. We started getting into the game a little too late."

Millburn knows they're very close to making this season a success.

"The team's playing well," said Zusi. "We're right on the edge, we're right on the verge. You look at the losses we've had, they're tough losses. We've had one really bad loss, the rest of them were two-goal losses and that's nothing to shake a stick at. Moral victories don't count for anything, it's still a loss, but we're right on the verge. If we can just make that one extra play, the score's a lot different."

Cranford had another issue to contend with, and that was playing on the natural grass field at Walnut as opposed to the FieldTurf surface at Memorial Field. With the girls at home, the boys were on the grass and it took a little time to get re-accustomed.

"We're now a turf team," said Reinoso. "The surface makes such a difference in lacrosse. In the first quarter, it still looked like we weren't used to it, and we didn't win the ground ball battle early. We got it back in the second quarter and in the whole second half we maintained possession of ground balls, loose balls, and we didn't throw it away when we had the ball. Possession was the key to the win."

Reinoso made sure his players had a chance to get used to playing on the real stuff again.

"We gave up our turn slots at Memorial, and I told the girls coach that they could have it if they wanted it. They had the game on the turf today, so it was important for us to practice here all week. It really helped to be here. It's really quirky. There's a couple of different rises and areas where it's lower and I thought we would be better prepared. It took us awhile to get used to it."

The Cougars have three games on the schedule that will prove to be challenges, including Tuesday night when they face Arthur L. Johnson on their traditional senior night.

"Senior night's going to be big," said Kaskiw. "We lost to them last year, so it's a big game for us."

"We need to keep practicing hard and keep working on what we've been doing," said Diano. "We can definitely put up a fight against Johnson."

"We need to have a big week next week, it's really a key to the season," said Reinoso. "We have Johnson, another game Thursday and we finish Saturday at Livingston. All three games are big games. We're 4-2 now and we need to continue to gain momentum."