Boys Lacrosse: Bridgewater-Raritan advances to the TOC semifinals fueled by big first half
BRIDGEWATER – Behind the back goals. Scoring bullets from the knees. Slick passes.
The Bridgewater-Raritan boys lacrosse team seemed to do it all in the first half of Saturday’s NJSIAA Tournament of Champions quarterfinal, playing its version of a near-perfect game.
The result was a big lead en route to a 15-8 win over Scotch Plains-Fanwood before an enthusiastic home crowd.
In last week’s 10-6 win over Hunterdon Central for the North Group 4 title, Brady Kurdyla missed most of the game with an injury. His younger brother Colin led the way with five goals.
Saturday, however, it was the junior Colin (team-high 65 goals) who remained sidelined with an injury. Enter Brady coming through with three goals and three assists to surpass 100 points in his career.
Also stepping up was Tom Tremarco (3 goals, 3 assists) and Rob Strano (assist) and DJ Vercade each chipped in two goals apiece.
The Panthers opened a 3-0 lead after the first quarter and increased it to 10-1 at the intermission.
Adding goals were Alex Delierre (1 assist), Kyle Holmes (1 assist), Daine Kostes (1 assist), Brandon Lewindowski and Matt Maciolek (2 assists). Goalie Will Kasica came up with seven saves in the win.
What’s next
Fourth-seeded Bridgewater-Raritan (18-3) travels to top-seeded Rumson-Fair Haven for Wednesday’s TOC semifinal at 6 p.m. At stake is a trip to Sunday’s championship at host Mount Olive.
The breakthrough season for Scotch Plains-Fanwood (19-4) comes to an end. The Raiders had a historic season, winning the North Group 3 title for the program’s first-ever sectional crown.
What it means
The Panthers add another chapter to the program’s storied legacy. Bridgewater-Raritan has won seven Group titles and three TOC championships – 2011, 2012, 2015 – which is tied with Mountain Lakes for the second-most in state history. Delbarton has won a state-high seven TOC championships.
Key plays
Early in the second period, Scotch Plains-Fanwood’s Aidan Fairweather scored to cut the deficit to 4-1 with 10:13 left until halftime.
Mike Cuzzola won the faceoff for Bridgewater-Raritan and fed Brady Kurdyla, who scored 8 seconds later to increase the lead to 5-1. On the next possession, Scotch Plains-Fanwood gained control, but Alex DeLierre picked up the loose ball for Bridgewater-Raritan.
Tremarco received the pass on his knees and fired it in for a 6-1 Panthers lead with 8:33 left in the quarter.
Once again, Cuzzola took the faceoff and fed DeLierre, who moved behind the net. He passed to Kurdyla, who scored on the behind-the-back goal from about 10 yards out as Bridgewater-Raritan took a 7-1 lead and firmly regained the momentum with 7:55 left in the quarter.
Game balls
Cuzzola and Daine Kostas had been sharing the faceoff duties for Bridgewater-Raritan. With Colin Kurdyla out, Kostas needed to play more offense and he delivered with the goal and assist.
Cuzzola, meanwhile, came up big in the faceoffs, especially in that first half.
The Panthers’ defense once again had a strong game. Brady Kurdyla noted that Luke Cifuentes is one of the best defenders in the state and Ryan Driscoll, Nicholas Jankowski and Jonathan Mock also clamped down on the Raiders.
Scotch Plains-Fanwood tried to rally and held a 4-1 edge in the fourth quarter, but it was too late. For the game, Mikey Kloepfer had three goals and an assist and Sandro Frias scored twice with an assist.
They said it
Brady Kurdyla on his teammates stepping up for his brother, “Colin’s a great player, no doubt about it, but we have a team of great players, too, so that’s what it’s all about, right?”
Kurdyla mentioned several of his teammates as having great games and noted that they were all clicking in the first half, adding “If you told me that we were going to come into this game and be up 10-1, I’d be like thank you, I’d shake your hand. I’d say I’ll take that right now.”
Bridgewater-Raritan coach Chuck Apel, “We played pretty well. It’s about as well as we could play on offense, that’s for sure. … We moved the ball really well and we shared it. We got a lot of good, assisted goals. So yeah, it was great stuff.”
Scotch Plains-Fanwood head coach Nick Miceli on the team’s season, “It was a heck of a season. These guys put Scotch Plains lacrosse on the map. ... We said, these guys are champions forever. Unfortunately it didn’t go our way today, but this season is going to last forever. The legacy that the seniors left it’s going to be up for the underclassmen and the younger guys to live up to.”
Miceli on the Bridgewater-Raritan’s strong first half, “I just thought they were moving the ball really well against us. I thought they were wining all the 50-50 gbs, and they were getting all the extra possessions. It’s really what happened in the first half.”
Email: amendlowitz@njpressmedia.com
Andy Mendlowitz is a sports reporter for MyCentralJersey.com. To get unlimited access to local news throughout Central Jersey, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Bridgewater-Raritan boys lacrosse advances to the TOC semifinals
