The Cranford Cougars knew that their opponents from New Providence were going to bring their A-game into Monday’s second round game in the Union County Boys Lacrosse Tournament. Based on the Pioneers’ tough play just last week, the Cougars knew they were going to have to fight to advance.
What a fight it was.
The Cougars rallied behind five goals combined from J.R. Rubin and Billy Davit, all while getting 14 saves out of goalkeeper Bobby Anstatt to come from behind and beat the Pioneers in Cranford, 8-5.
Find out what's happening in Cranfordfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
“Take nothing away from New Prov; they raised their level from last week when we played them up at their place, and today, they were definitely on in the first half,” said Cougars’ head coach Al Reinoso. “The goalie was seeing all our shots. He was stopping everything. It took a couple of really good shots (to gain momentum).”
New Providence made plenty of shots in their own right, especially in the first half. The Pioneers were up 4-0 over Cranford at halftime, with a defensive effort that barely gave the Cougars any scoring opportunities whatsoever.
Find out what's happening in Cranfordfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Reinoso chalks up the first half struggles to a lack of a sense of urgency, which the Cougars made sure to take time to correct at halftime.
“I could tell in the first quarter that we were standing defensively,” said Reinoso. “Even offensively, when we’re moving the ball, we’re not moving our feet. We just don’t look as with it and as alert as we should be, so at halftime we went over all of those things.”
“We saw everything that they had done to us this time, they did to us last week,” said Reinoso. “Like I said, it’s not that we weren’t ready for it, it’s just that we weren’t ready to play in the first half like we should.”
Reinoso credits the Cougars’ second-half charge, during which they took a 5-4 lead by the end of the third quarter, to the inspiration provided by injured senior player Will Bender, who spoke to his teammates during the intermission.
“I let (Bender) talk to the guys when we were in the halftime huddle. I told Will, ‘whatever you said was the right thing’, because the team came out a different team,” said Reinoso. “The team came out a little more focused, a little more poised, and a little more prepared to play the way we can.”
Three more quick goals for the Cougars in the fourth quarter proved to be too much of a hole for the Pioneers to overcome. New Providence managed just one goal throughout the entire half, which came with just over two minutes to play in the game.
Next up for the Cougars will be the semi-final round of the tournament, which they will play on Thursday, May 12 at 8 PM against Arthur L. Johnson High School in Clark.
