Sussex County Sports Blog

By Dan Cleary

5/1/2009 - How About A Lacrosse Tourney?

Okay, it is official. I don’t care how it happens or when or where it happens, but there is one thing for sure---the boys lacrosse teams in the Mugs Media area need to have some sort of tournament this season.

Yes, I know the season is almost over and it is early May, but after watching Sparta and Jefferson battle through 48 minutes of regulation and two overtimes in an epic 5-4 Jefferson victory I’ve decided we need to have a tourney this season to crown a champ.

There is just too good of boys lacrosse being played in our area not to have a clear-cut champion crowned. Yes, I know with realignment coming, there is talk of a tri-county tournament for Sussex, Warren and Hunterdon schools in all sports next school year. In fact, the last word I heard it was a done deal, but I haven’t confirmed it, so stay tuned.

Anyway, after watching one of the best lacrosse games I have ever seen since I started covering the sport for Mugs Media in 2004, I don’t want to wait for next year. A few months back I was talking with Ben Wittkowski, the outstanding general manager of the Can-Am League-champion Sussex Skyhawks, and he suggested hosting a county tourney at Skylands Park.

But we never really spoke about it again, and in a blog last year, I suggested the SCIL should have a tourney, but for purely selfish reasons I would love to see the teams in the Mugs Media area—Jefferson, Sparta, Vernon, Wallkill Valley, Lenape Valley, Pope John, North Warren and Blair Academy—duke it out.

Yes, I know it won’t happen this year, but I can dream, can’t I? This is how it would be set up. You seed the teams one through eight based on their LaxPower rankings so there is no guesswork involved. LaxPower seeds the state tournament, so it is certainly qualified to seed a tourney that only exists in my mind.

Play quarterfinal games at the higher seed and then hold the semifinals and final at Skylands Park. I would also try to schedule a couple of college games at the Park as well and make it a lacrosse weekend, a smaller version of the Big City Classic held in April at Giants Stadium which drew some nice crowds.

But instead of the big-time schools, get the local colleges like Montclair State University, FDU-Florham Park and others to play. I would also hold a youth clinic as well to give the sport more exposure in an area that is still very new to lacrosse.

Can you imagine how great of a weekend that would be? Now, I know some of you out there must think I’ve become lacrosse-obsessed, writing another blog on the sport. But it is just a great sport and anyone who watched the Sparta-Jefferson game would agree.

Vernon and Sparta played a great game a couple of weeks ago and Vernon pulled out a 10-9 win in OT after blowing a 7-0 lead. Yes, it was a dramatic victory and was great to watch, but the quality of play was not nearly as good as Jefferson’s win over Sparta.

Lacrosse can be a high-scoring game, but when two well-coached and hard-nosed teams take the field, goals are at a premium, and that was the case in the Sparta-Jefferson game. Both teams did a great job of ball possession, but it was each team’s defense that wowed me.

Sparta defenders John Figarelli, who was a force all game, Mike Radeloff, Doug Winkowski, and Zack Reinhauer did a great job of shielding keeper Doug Chesnolovitch all game. And Paul Gaffney was just all over the field on the attack, taking faceoffs and on defense.

Jefferson’s defense of Sean Hutchinson, who scored the tying goal in the third quarter, Zack Miranda, Sean Sweeney and Matt Mancuso were also splendid, but it was sophomore keeper D.J. Kerwien who stole the show. The sophomore made some tremendous saves, including a huge one at the end of the third quarter that kept it a 4-4 game.

Each team had plenty of chances in the overtimes, but Kevin Murphy wrote a Hollywood ending when he fired in an over-the-shoulder blast with 2:13 left in the second OT to send everyone home.

You see, Murphy had a wide-open net right before halftime and slipped and missed the shot, missing a chance to tie the game at 4-4 going into the break. Blowing that chance ate at Murphy the rest of the game as he patiently waited for his second chance and when he got it, he set off a wild celebration in which first-year Jefferson coach Scott Reid led coming off the Jefferson sideline.

It was a heartbreaking end for Sparta, but a great game for the fans and the media. Even after the game, players from each team were talking to each other about how great a game they had just played and they were right. The play, despite poor weather, was crisp and intense with bodies flying all over the place, but nothing overly cheap.

I don’t know, maybe I got too caught up in the game, but, man, I want more. I want to see North Warren and its outstanding players Bobby Chayka and Joel Vanderwal play Sparta or Jefferson. The Pats have already bumped off Pope John 8-6 this season, and the Lions behind Lucci Calvaruso, Alex Cirone and goalie Jared Occhicone, are playing very well in their first season in the Rizk Division.

Vernon, which lost to Pope John on opening day, is battling for first place in the Pooley Division and would match up physically with Jefferson. How great would it be to see Kevin Murphy or Pat Hodapp, who scored three times in the Sparta win for his 100^th career point, bang heads with Vernon’s monster defender Brian Jernick?

Or watching big Tim Zmuda of Vernon trying to work his way in against Miranda, who is also an imposing figure? It would be so much fun.

And wouldn’t it be fun to see first-year varsity programs Lenape Valley and Wallkill Valley play each other? Kevin Earl at Lenape and Nick Speer of Wallkill Valley are energetic, young coaches who love the sport and already have each of their programs competitive.

I know this is all a pipe dream, but the fact that the thought of a tournament is floating out there speaks volumes to how far the sport has come in the area.

So when the SCIL Baseball Tournament takes place at Skylands Park in a couple of weeks I will be excited to work the games, but there will be a small part of me thinking about what could have been when it comes to lacrosse. And if you watched the Sparta-Jefferson game, you know what I’m talking about.

That’s it for now, see you on the sidelines.

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Sussex County Sports Blog

By Dan Cleary

5/1/2009 - How About A Lacrosse Tourney?