McLinden, Scarpello, Anton Lead Lacrosse in Opening Playoff Round

The lacrosse team wasted no time in their opening game of the NJSIAA Group 1 Tournament on Tuesday, building a 9-1 lead in the first half to fuel a 15-6 win over Robbinsville in Madison.

Madison and Robbinsville (12-6-1) both had byes into the second round. On Thursday Madison visits top seed Mountain Lakes (12-6) in a quarterfinal match-up. The Mountaineers dispatched Verona 13-1 on Tuesday.

The eighth-seeded Dodgers (10-8) jumped out to an early lead courtesy of four goals from senior middie Colin McLinden.

“We started off pretty hot against them today,” Madison head coach Mark Sweeney said. “I don’t know if their goalie just wasn’t on today, but I think our kids shot pretty well. But I thought we’ve been playing pretty well since our first five games [0-5]."

McLinden would finish the game with four goals to go along with five assists and eight ground balls.

On the defensive end, senior goalie Brett Anton and his group limited ninth-seeded Robbinsville to just four goals through the first 3-1/2 quarters.

“They’re starting to play good team defense and Brett is very good in goal,” Sweeney said. “They had some good chances and he stoned them pretty good. You don’t know, if a couple of them go in, it’s a different story.”

Anton, who has established himself as one of the top goalies in Morris County, continued to shine in the crease as he stopped 14 shots in the win and also recorded one assist.

"Coming into this game we had high expectations for ourselves and we just wanted to win by a good amount,” said Anton, who also grabbed four ground balls. “We did that and hopefully this carries to the game against Mountain Lakes.”

Madison continued to pressure Robbinsville in the second half, as Colin Scarpello finished with a team-high six goals and Billy Battaglia and Chad Smith tallied two goals each.

The Dodgers, having stopped lacrosse powers Seton Hall Prep and Mount Olive in the week leading up to Tuesday's game, look like they're peaking at just the right time.

"We beat Seton Hall a couple of days ago and that was a big momentum builder, and winning this game is definitely a big momentum builder going into Mountain Lakes. We’re just trying to continue gaining momentum as the state tournament goes on," Sweeney said.

The coach knows Madison will have its hands full with the Mountaineers, a perennial power.

“We’ve got a tough one on Thursday,” Sweeney said. “We’ve got Mountain Lakes, the No. 1 seed, and I don’t think anyone expects us [to win]. But it’s who comes [to the game]? Is it Jekyll or is it Hyde? We’ll see, and we’ll step up, hopefully.”

“Defensively, we’ve only been giving up seven or eights goals a game and traditionally, we should be scoring more than eight or nine goals,” said Sweeney. “It’s going to be tough to score that many on Thursday, but we’re excited that we’re here. After going 0-5, to be 10-8 right now, we’re feeling pretty good about ourselves.”