Ocean City takes lead early then holds off Mustang comeback
OCEAN CITY – After a season of tough tests, the Ocean City Red Raiders are still the kings of the Cape-Atlantic League.
On the verge of their fourth straight conference title, the Raiders hosted the rival Mainland Mustangs for the right to be called CAL champions. The teams traded punches in the first half, but Ocean City came out on top with a 9-7 win on Thursday, May 22.
Ocean City never trailed, but the offense needed every goal possible to hold off Mainland.
Unlike their first meeting a month ago in a 4-3 double overtime slugfest, the two teams came out swinging on offense. Dominic Vallese struck first for Ocean City and had Nolan O’Kane and Jack Scherbin quickly follow up for a 3-0 lead in the first four minutes of the game.
“We knew it was going to be close because we are a pretty similar team, but we knew we had to come out strong to get a good start to take control of the game,” O’Kane said.
Mainland met the intensity of Ocean City head on and took possession of the ball for the remainder of the quarter. Joe Eyde got the Mustangs on the board and watched his face-off specialist Harrison Gurwicz set up the next scoring opportunity.
Gurwicz won the face-off almost immediately and found freshman Ryan Scannell, who scored in only nine seconds. Scannell later tied the game at three goals apiece with four seconds left in the first quarter which pumped up the Mustang sideline.
O’Kane stopped bleeding with the go-ahead goal in the second quarter that gave the Raiders a lead they would never relinquish. Otter Donohue added one more for a 5-3 lead at halftime.
O’Kane is only one of two seniors in the young Raider lineup and led by example in the title game with two goals. Donohue and Scherbin also finished with two goals.
On their way to claim the trophy, Donohue and the rest of the Raiders called for O’Kane to be the first to hoist it into the air, a feeling the senior has become all too familiar with.
“It means a lot. I mean it’s my fourth year winning the CAL chip, so it felt great winning all four years,” O’Kane said. “We have got a young team right now and lost two of our seniors we should have had so it means a lot to win this with all my guys here.”
Ocean City head coach Joe LaTorre spoke after the game about his team’s season and how it built up to another CAL championship.
“The beautiful part of our schedule this year is it prepared us for games like this,” LaTorre said. “We had our growing pains early and it was not the prettiest season. Right now, we are 9-9 and don’t have a record that people would tell their friends about, but we know who we are.”
The Raiders built up a 9-4 lead in the third quarter with a crafty shot by Donohue behind his back to start the run.
Down by five heading into the final frame the Mustangs refused to quit and mounted a comeback. The defense held Ocean City scoreless in the fourth and more importantly caused a couple of turnovers to preserve the clock.
Eyde struck first in the fourth quarter for his second goal of the game. He later assisted on Tony Desalle’s goal that put the Mustangs within three with 3:41 remaining. With the clock against them the Mustangs did not score again until the 34-second mark. Dylan Grant brought the score to 9-7 but Mainland ran out of time.
LaTorre said after the game he feels like Ocean City versus Mainland games are going to “be a lot like this every year.”
“We knew being up even four the game wasn’t over,” LaTorre said. “My hat’s off to them though. What they have done in this past year from where they’ve been is great.”
The CAL championship will be the last time the two teams meet this season, as they were split into two different groups for the upcoming postseason.
Ocean City will get the postseason started as the No. 3 seed in the South Jersey Group II bracket. The Raiders’ first game in the unfamiliar group will be at home against Oakcrest High School on May 29. With a win they would advance to the quarterfinals and play another home game against either Barnegat or Cedar Creek on June 2.
Mainland’s climb through the Group III bracket begins on May 29 against Jackson Memorial High School. The Mustangs’ potential opponent in the quarterfinals could be a familiar foe in Clearview High School. Clearview eliminated Mainland last season in the quarterfinals. However, this season’s game would be in Linwood thanks to the Mustangs’ No. 4 seed in the bracket. The quarterfinals for the Mustangs would also be on June 2.
– STORY by WILLIAM TRUITT/For the Sentinel
– PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
