The Montclair boys lacrosse team has been looking forward to this Essex County Tournament especially for the 15 seniors on the roster this season.
And it was extra special for the third-seeded Mounties on Tuesday (May 7) when they faced neighborhood rival, sixth-seeded Montclair Kimberly at Watchung Field in the ECT quarterfinals.
The showdown was a battle between the veteran Mounties team with the young Cougars.
And it appeared that Montclair would have an easy time as the Mounties struck quickly with two goals in the first six minutes.
But then Montclair Kimberley said not so fast.
The Cougars scored five of the next eight goals. Montclair found themselves in a battle for their tournament life at the start of the second half.
But the experienced Mounties picked up their boots. Montclair controlled the final 22 minutes to advance in the ECT with an 8-5 victory. That included Montclair scoring three times in the last six minutes of the match.
Montclair raised its record to 6-7 while Montclair Kimberley dropped to 7-5. Montclair is only three years removed from reaching the ECT final where they lost to Seton Hall Prep in 2021.
The Mounties received three goals each from senior Evan Schmitt and sophomore Dylan Fowler to lead Montclair to victory. MKA sophomore Noah Rodgers had a pair of goals to keep the Cougars in the game. Montclair senior goalie Stefan Mastrodimos made five saves to grab the win. MKA sophomore goalie Simon Hardiman made 13 saves to keep the Cougars in the game.
The Mounties take on second-seeded Caldwell in the ECT semi finals on Thursday, May 9 (4:30 p.m.). Montclair came from behind but fell to the Chiefs, 7-5, in the second game of the season in April.
Schmitt said that the rivalry game is important and that he is friends with many of the Montclair Kimberley players. “It means a lot. I know a lot of the kids on Montclair Kimberley,” said Schmitt. “They are all good guys. (MKA) Coach (Dave) Giarrusso is a very good coach and he gets them ready.”
Giarrusso always enjoys the rivalry with Montclair. He liked his team effort, but it just wasn’t enough late in the contest. “It was a fun environment for our team,” said Giarrusso. “We are pleased with the physical effort and attention to the game plan, but just not disciplined and focused for the whole game. I’m happy with how we fought back from a couple of deficits, 5-5 in the fourth. We had the ball with five minutes left down 6-5.”Â
The Montclair Kimberley head coach said that it came down to Montclair’s transition including late in the contest. “We knew how talented they are in transition, but we made some poor decisions and poor plays in the early transition,” said Giarrusso. “You cannot afford to give them the ball with that much time and space in transition which led to three to four goals.”
The Montclair Kimberley boys lacrosse team are still alive in the Prep B Tournament as the third seed and travel to second-seeded Rutgers Prep on Friday (May 10, 4:30 p.m.).
Evan Schmitt admitted that the Mounties did not play at their best after the quick two-goal lead. “They (MKA) came out ready to play and we didn’t play our best game,” said Schmitt.
A crucial timeout for Montclair came with 30 seconds off the second half clock. Montclair Kimberley junior Jack Barrack picked up the ball after the opening third quarter face off. He fired a shot by Mastrodimos to tie the county quarterfinal at five.
After the Mounties gained possession on the ensuing faceoff, Montclair head coach Mike Diehl called a timeout. “They showed they wanted it more when it was 5-5 at the time,” said Mastrodimos who is in his first full season in goal and is friends with MKA’s lone senior, Nick Snyder. “We just needed to chill out and prove that we were better than them, which I thought was the case.”
While Mastrodimos along with the Mounties defense including seniors TR Branski, Liam Tracy, Gabe Epstein and sophomore Adam Schmitt, kept the Montclair Kimberley offense at bay, the Montclair offense finally broke through late in the fourth quarter.
Montclair senior Jayden Truesdale broke the deadlock. With less than seven minutes left in the contest, he made a shot to the left of MKA keeper Hardiman. It gave the Mounties a 6-5 lead and Montclair never looked back. It was the second goal of the game for Truesdale.
The Mounties will look to avenge on Thursday a 7-5 loss at Caldwell on April 4. Montclair came out slow against the Chiefs and were down 4-1 at halftime. The Mounties came back in the second half, but the clock ran out on them.
In the loss to Caldwell, senior Drew Pfeifer, had a pair of goals as well as senior Simon Miklaszewski. Unfortunately, Montclair is expected to be without Miklaszewski, who is currently injured and might miss the rest of the season. The Mounties defense will look to put on the clamps of Caldwell’s leading scorer senior Jack Goldbach. He had three goals against Montclair in the first game in April between the two schools.