Mounties Boys Lax Dominate Columbia 14-3

in the last four games and capturing the “Gibbs” Trophy in the process.The Montclair Boys Lacrosse Team dismantled Columbia on Wednesday by a final score of 14-3 enroute to their 2nd victory in a row and their 3rd

“It’s been a team that’s had to work through a lot,” said Head Coach Peter Von Hoffman. “Yesterday I made them do 200 yard hurdles ... they didn’t say a word, no complaining, and I told them afterwards good things happen to teams like this.

"If you work hard and do the right things good things will happen,” added Von Hoffman.

The Mounties started fast, taking the opening possession and never looking back as Drew Nesmith connected early in the first quarter to put the Mounties up 1-0, but Columbia was determined, at least in the early stages, to make a game of it tying it up at 1.

Nesmith began to do what he has done all year and lead the team by example and the team followed as Mike Colella connected shortly thereafter to make it 2-1 Mounties.

“We basically just clicked today on offense,” said Nesmith, who is having a phenomenal season. “I try to dodge and shoot the first couple times to make them play me and hopefully I’ll be able to dodge and pass to somebody else."

Nesmith scored another pair of goals at the 18-second mark in the 1st and 10:52 mark in the 2nd to give the Mounties all the momentum, eventually taking a 6-1 lead into the half.

“The term I use with them is ‘we have to make our best better,” said Von Hoffman. As the 2nd half begun Von Hoffman refused to allow his team to let up and allow Columbia back into the game. The team responded with three goals midway through the 3rd coming from John Umbach, Ethan Farris and Kailan Ottoway to bury Columbia at 9-1 and eventually cruise onto victory.

The victory allows Montclair to claim the “Gibbs” Trophy in honor of the late Head Coach Gil Gibbs. Claiming the award is something Von Hoffman is very proud of due to its great lineage over the past four decades.

The Mounties improve to 3-6 on the season, as they will look to continue their winning ways. “The question is: can we make our best game just a notch better?” said Von Hoffman.