Madison Boys Lax Escapes W. Morris to Remain Unbeaten

Despite trailing by four goals in the second quarter, the Madison Dodgers boys lacrosse team was able to escape West Morris High with a hard-fought and surprising 10-9 win in Chester on Tuesday.

"I don't think we played our best game, but when you come out with a 'W,' it means we're a pretty good team," head coach Mark Sweeney said.

From the start, though, things didn't look very promising for Madison as what appeared to be a lack of intensity, put the Dodgers in a deep hole, quick.

West Morris took advantage of Madison's continuous turnovers and poor defense early, as senior attacker Sam Morrisey scored two goals in the first quarter, putting Madison in a 2-1 hole.

"We dropped the ball a lot," Sweeney said after the game. "We dodged, and we wouldn't pull our sticks so we got stripped a lot in the first half."

Madison's poor play would continue in the second quarter as Morrissey and fellow attacker Sean Barnes continued to terrorize the Dodger defense.

After a Barnes goal in the middle of the second quarter gave West Morris their largest lead of the day at, 5-1, it seemed like Dodgers fans were going to witness a rout.

But Madison was able to stop the bleeding with two goals from Will Stuhler and Mike Clemente late in the quarter, closing the gap to 5-3.

In the second half, the Dodgers picked up the pace, showing a more physical presence and controlling the ball much more in their offensive zone.

After a number of third quarter chances wielded no goals for Madison, junior Colin McLinden scored, making the score 5-4. Less than a minute later, sophomore attacker Billy Battaglia tied the game at 5-5.

Battaglia wasn't done though, as he scored again with 1:31 remaining in the third quarter off of a pass from captain Charlie Oldendorp, giving Madison their first lead of the day.

With the scores even and Madison showing more toughness and determination than they had all game long, it seemed as if the Dodgers may continue their winning streak.

"I don't think we played real well at all in the first half, but in the second half we played a lot better," Sweeney said.

In the fourth quarter, scoring came in a frenzy, from both teams.

A Chad Smith goal just 30 second into the quarter gave Madison a 7-6 lead. Although it would be short lived as, three minutes later, Barnes scored his third goal of the day making the score even once again.

Both Barnes and Morrissey would finish with four goals.

But Madison would open up their largest lead of the day as Oldendorp, who had been bottled up for much of the game, rattled off three goals in a row, leading Madison to the shocking 10-9 win.

"They came back hard and played hard," Sweeney said. "It's a sign of a good team that can come back down by four goals and win."

"I'm happy," he added. "They're a very good team, and I'm happy."

Madison will look to improve to 6-0 against West Windsor on Thursday in Madison.