Thursday,
April 3, 2014
By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director
|
|
Erik Gullested scored two of Old Tappan's six first half goals and the Golden Knights picked up their first victory of the season with a 9-3 win over Westwood on Wednesday afternoon. |
OLD TAPPAN – There were some encouraging signs for the Northern Valley/Old Tappan boys lacrosse team in its first two games of the season, but without a win to show for either of them there was only so much that the Golden Knights could take from them. In a season which Old Tappan hopes to at least reach the .500 mark for the first time in program history, getting that first win before getting to deep into the schedule was a must on Wednesday against a fledgling Westwood side.
“This is the ninth year that I have been the coach and the ninth year that we have had a varsity program. We have been building for a while, but now it is time. We have never had a team finish above .500, but I feel like this might be the team to finally do it,” said Old Tappan head coach Tom Lebovitch. “We've got a good youth program now and the kids are starting to come up to the high school level with some experience. When we first started we had kids that had never picked up a stick before high school, but that is changing and it is starting to show in our level of play.”
Griffen Day's level of play was certainly high in the first seven-plus minutes of the first quarter as he scored twice in that span to give Old Tappan the lead that is built on the rest of the way. The Golden Knights led wire-to-wire and got their first victory of the season, 9-3, on Wednesday afternoon in Old Tappan.
“It was great to get some early goals to get our confidence up and then the defense took over and played great when we got the lead. We were able to do what we have been practicing on offense and defense and that was good to see,” said Day, who finished with a hat trick and also added an assist. “We weren't frustrated with our start [to the season] because we played Waldwick close and could have won that game and we lost to St. Joe's, which is a really good team. We were still confident coming in here today and I think that showed with how we started and took the lead early.”
|
Matt Fedele scored Westwood's first goal early in the second quarter. |
Jacob Bernstein's goal with 1:02 left in the first quarter gave Old Tappan a 3-0 lead and the Knights held Westwood scoreless through the first 14 minutes of the game while dominating possession. It wasn't until James Cramer set up shop behind the net long enough to find a cutting Matt Fedele, who got free in front and scored from close range to get Westwood on the board. Old Tappan responded with two straight goals by Erik Gullested to go up 5-1 and Day's third goal made it 6-1 with just over five minutes to play in the first half.
Kyle Birkner bounced one in to get Westwood back to with 6-2 at the intermission, but Old Tappan opened the second half with a memorable goal. Senior defenseman Andrew Costa was the outlet on the right side for goalkeeper Tom Marcason. Costa took a short clearance near the sideline and had only one thing in mind. Long stick or not, Costa was going for goal.
“My goalie gave me a great pass, I looked upfield and I saw the opportunity. I have great players around me that the defense had to pay attention to, so I just kept going,” said Costa, whose end-to-end run with possession of the ball coverage all but about the first 15 yards of the entire field. “If you know me, I am definitely not known for my blazing speed, so it was one or two moves, a fake and I bounced it in. That was fun.”
Goals by Bernstein and Daniel Valdivia gave Old Tappan a 9-2 lead after three periods before Westwood's Tom Solimando netted the game's final goal 2:10 before the final horn.
|
Christopher Misa had three assists for Old Tappan, which improved to 1-2 on the season. |
Day finished with three goals and an assist, all in the first half, Gullested and Bernstein each added two goals apiece. Christopher Misa was in the middle of the action all day long as he finished with three assists for the Old Tappan (1-2). Marcason, who did not have the busiest of days as he team held the ball for long stretches, finished with four saves. The junior is a relative newcomer to the goalkeeping position, but he has stepped right in for the graduated Andrew Carpaninni, who left big shoes to fill.
“I didn't start out as a goalie but it has kind of come natural to me. I learned a lot last year by watching Andrew Carpaninni, who was one of the best high school goalies I have ever seen. But it is not just me back there. Our man-down defense is probably the best in our division and I get a lot of help,” said Marcason. “ I came into high school as an attacking player, but our goalie freshman year broke his thumb and I moved into the net and now I love it back there and I am doing everything I can to get better.”
With its first win now in the bank, Old Tappan is hoping to build some momentum toward having the best season in school history. The Knights have taken baby steps in getting to the point of being competitive on a game-in, game-out basis, but they have done so through three games this year with a chance finally breakthrough.
“We are getting together as a team and we are playing as one unit on offense. Our plays are more complex than they have been in years past and we are really moving, getting open, getting good shots and putting them in,” said Misa. “We have a lot of young guys on the team that are really going to mature as the season goes on and I think we all see a bright future for this program.”
CLICK HERE FOR MORE PHOTOS FROM THIS GAME.
TO BUY A COLLECTOR'S PRINT
OF THIS STORY, PLEASE VISIT 4FeetGrafix.com. |