Montclair Wins Lacrosse Battle!

Montclair boys lacrosse team pulled off an upset Saturday in the Essex County Tournament and the victim was hometown rival, Montclair Kimberley.

Behind five goals from senior John Umbach, the seventh-seeded Mounties defeated the second-seeded Cougars, 10-8, at Van Brunt Field on Saturday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the ECT.

Montclair takes on third-seeded Seton Hall Prep on Saturday in the semi-finals.

Mounties Mike Colella contributed a goal and three assists as Montclair took an 8-3 lead at halftime and held on in the second half. The MKA trio of Mark Phillips, Maurice Walsh and Matt Lane led the way for two goals each for the Cougars.

Montclair raised its record to 4-6 while Montclair Kimberley dropped to 10-2 and had a 10-game winning streak snapped.

Montclair softball garnered the sixth seed in the Essex County Tournament and will host 11th-seeded Columbia, possibly on May 7.

A Lady Mounties win over Columbia would send Montclair against the winner of 14th-seeded Millburn-third-seeded Cedar Grove in the quarterfinals on May 14.

With a rebuilding year Montclair Kimberley is the 23rd seed and will host 26th-seeded West Side on Friday at 4 p.m. in a play-in game. A win over West Side would have the Lady Cougars take on 18th-seeded Bloomfield Tech.

In baseball the Montclair squad garnered a fifth seed in the Greater Newark Tournament. The Mounties seeding was helped by defeating Seton Hall Prep on April 15 with a 4-3 victory in West Orange. The Mounties will host 12th-seeded Verona in the second round. Montclair Kimberley is just one step behind Montclair and is the sixth seed. They would face 11th-seeded Columbia in the second round. Columbia was in the finals of the GNT last season, losing to West Essex.

Baseball

Montclair rebounded on Wednesday and ended a two-game losing streak with a 16-1 victory at Newark East Side. The victory gave the Mounties a 7-4 record.

The Mounties had the game with eight runs in the second inning to clinch the Super Essex Conference contest. Ben Hamilton contributed with his arm and his bat. Hamilton garnered the victory on the mound and had four RBI for the day. Brett Cooper smacked a two-run home run for the Mounties.

MKA raised its record to 7-2-1 as the Cougars shutout Belleville, 10-0, on Wednesday. MKA pitcher Max Herrmann did it with his arm and bat. Herrmann fired a three-hitter while striking out six Bucs. He also went 3-for-4 in the game and hit a two-run home run. The Cougars had the game in hand from the start with eight runs on the board in the first inning.

Girls lacrosse

Montclair won back-to-back games this past week including upsetting third-seeded Columbia, 10-6, in the quarterfinal round of the Essex County Tournament on April 23 on the road.

It was sort of an avenge game after the sixth-seeded Lady Mounties lost to Columbia in the state tournament last season. Montclair led 6-4 after the first half and kept it going in the second half. Three Lady Mounties score two or more goals with Charlotte Von Hoffman and Clare Keating notching two goals while Marissa Taddie added three goals. Montclair goalie Lucy Ferguson made 17 saves to preserve the victory.

On Wednesday Montclair held on to a 9-6 win at Verona, Von Hoffman and Clare Keating scored three goals each to lead the offense while Ferguson made 17 saves to protect the SEC victory.

Boys lacrosse

Montclair Kimberley moved up to 9-0 as the Cougars defeated Clifton, 13-8, on Tuesday on the road.

MKA put some cushion in a 5-4 lead at halftime by outscoring the Mustangs, 5-1, in the third period.

Cougars senior Matt Lane had a huge game with four goals and three assists to lead the offense. Kyle Morris scored twice in the contest. MKA goalie Craig Schweitzer made six saves to preserve the victory.

For Montclair in the ECT win over Newark Academy, the combo of John Umbach and Drew Nesmith had four goals each to take of the Minutemen. Kevin McKenna chipped in two goals and three assists to defeat Newark Academy.

Montclair won its third game of the year as they defeated Columbia, 14-3, on Wednesday. The Mounties pulled away in the third quarter with seven goals.

Three Montclair players scored three goals each in Umbach, Nesmith and Frank Iovine. Mike Colella had a pair of goals and two assists in the contest.

Boys tennis

Montclair just missed dropping Seton Hall Prep on Monday, but fell to 6-4 on the season with a 3-2 verdict.

The difference might have come at first doubles. The Montclair duo of Leo Hentschker and Julie Naegeli tied up the match with a 7-5 victory over Pirates James Cirignano and Tom Kim. But Hentschker and Naegeli could not get the decisive third set and fell 6-3.

Mounties first singles' Jackson Claudio defeated Greg Olesnycky of Seton Hall Prep, 6-2, 6-0. The other Montclair victory came in second doubles as Ryan Kautz and Alex Goulet won 6-4, 6-7, 6-0.

Montclair Kimberley won its second match of the year in defeating West Essex, 3-2 on Tuesday. The Cougars (2-7) secured the contest as MKA second singles Brandon Kwan defeated West Essex's Chris Martin, 6-4, 6-3. Jason Kwan (third singles) and the combo of John Post/Justin Minion (second doubles) took home victories in the dual match with West Essex.