Funk to the Rescue

With 20 seconds left, the score tied at eight and all of the momentum on DePaul Catholic’s side, the Millburn boys lacrosse team needed a play. Miller first-year head coach Bill McCutcheon and the locals turned to their playmaker, Mark Funk, and he did not disappoint.

Coming out of a timeout, Funk took the ball from behind the net, wrapped around the goal and shed three checks in front of the net before firing in a laser, putting the Millers ahead for good with 7.8 seconds remaining.

“We put in a double pick from behind so we could free him up so he had space to run with nobody in his gloves, he got free on the far side, they overcommitted to him, he inside rolled and stuck it,” McCutcheon said. “That’s a huge individual effort on his behalf. I said to him, you’re the go to guy, go ahead, you’ve got 20 seconds.”

“It was a well drawn up play, we had 20 seconds to go and luckily it ended up working up,” Funk said. “We had nice pick set behind the net and another one set on the GLE [goal line extended] over there and luckily I just got through a double team in the end and I was able to put it in the net.”

The 9-8 win at Dr. Keith A. Neigel Field, was the 14^th victory of the season for the Millers, setting a new school record, and sending the locals into the postseason on a winning note.

“It was home, last time the seniors are playing [at home] and he basically said I am going off of my home field on a high note here,” McCutcheon said.

After Millburn took a 7-2 lead following a score by Ryan Bednarski with 3:39 left in the second quarter, the game seemed well in hand. The Millers were controlling possession and taking a barrage of shots on net. Up to that point, Millburn had won seven of 10 draws, and had out-shot the Spartans 15-8.

But DePaul closed the second quarter with a pair of scores from Steve Lennon and Brandon Salazar to close within three headed into the break.

With 9:12 remaining in the third period, Joe Garcia caught a pass cutting across Millburn’s net and put in an off-balanced shot to close within two. But nearly two minutes later, Funk found fellow senior Ricky Simon cutting to the net, who finished with a score.

But Millburn would be held scoreless from the 7:19 mark of the third quarter till Funk’s game-winning score. DePaul scored three times in the final six minutes of play to tie the game, getting goals from Joe Moreno, Mike Caposella and the game tying score from Moreno, capping a 6-1 Spartan rally to even the contest with 1:27 remaining.

“We got sloppy in the second half which is something that we need to tune up Monday and Tuesday in our state game, if we want a shot at continuing to play in may,” McCutcheon said. “For us it really is just taking care of the ball, I would gander a guess that we had upwards of 20. So you can’t win games when you turn the ball over a lot.”

Millburn came out strong in the first quarter. Less than two minutes in, Max Nemenow scooped up a groundball near the crease and bounced in a bullet for the game’s first goal. After DePaul answered, Funk intercepted a pass from the Spartan keeper 25-yards out and took the ball to the net for the goal, putting Millburn up 2-1 with 6:45 left in the first quarter.

Moreno then took advantage of a man-up situation following a Millburn foul and caught a pass steps outside of the crease and finished with a high and hard shot.

With the game knotted at two, Nemenow scored on a wrap-around with 3:27 left in the opening quarter. Baker put Millburn up by two, finding the back of the net with a low liner, just inches off of the turf with one minute left in the first. Ben Cebula finished off the first quarter scoring with a shot from about 12 yards out, putting Millburn up 5-2 with 25.3 seconds left in the quarter.

“We came out firing, we came out doing a good job and we kind of let them creep back into the game. It’s something we’ve dealt with all year long,” McCutcheon said. “I’m proud of our effort.”

The Millers were led by Funk’s two goals and four assists, while Baker and Nemenow both scored a pair. Depaul was led by three goals by Moreno, and dropped to 11-6 after the loss.

Both teams now move onto the state playoffs. Millburn is seeking its first ever playoff win on Tuesday on the road against Jackson High School.