The Madison High School boys lacrosse team rolled in its first-round Morris County Tournament matchup against Jefferson, 16-10, on Tuesday in Madison.
Although the score showed a fairly close game, that wasn't the case as Madison head coach Mark Sweeney sat his starters halfway through the third quarter with Madison sporting a 15-5 lead.
"We had a good effort and then we called off the dogs and put in the freshman," Sweeney said. "You have to do that with the score 15-5."
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From the start, it was clear that Jefferson was outmatched as Madison jumped out to a quick, 4-0 lead. In fact, Jefferson wasn't able to score its first goal until the 10-minute mark in the quarter, mostly due to the Dodger defenses very physical presence.
In the second quarter, with Madison leading 8-2, the defense relaxed momentarily leading to three Jefferson goals.
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"Guys start saying to themselves, 'we're going to win,' " Sweeney explained. "The players know that one or two goals isn't going to kill us. But I want to see them have success for the whole game and stay intense."
Madison would quickly lose the lackadaisical attitude, getting goals from captains Charlie Oldendorp and Austen Lein, finishing out the half with a strong, 11-5 lead.
The third quarter showed much of the same as the first, with Madison controlling the ball for basically the entire quarter.
Oldendorp would add three more goals in the first half of the quarter and Lein would add one–making the score 15-5–before Sweeney would send his starters to sideline for the remainder of the game.
Oldendorp would finish with six goals and Lein with four.
The defense remained tough as well, holding Jefferson to only one goal in the quarter. That goal came with just one second remaining on the clock.
With mostly freshman playing in the final quarter, Jefferson was able to crawl back in the game, scoring four goals. But it wouldn't be enough as Madison walked away with the 16-10 decision.
"I thought we did some good things. We had a couple of breakdowns and they had a couple of good shooters, but I think our defense played very well, I thought our offense moved the ball well and get good shots," Sweeney added.
The Dodgers now await their opponent for the second round of the Morris County Tournament tentatively scheduled for Thursday in Madison.
