OCEAN CITY – The Ocean City High School boys lacrosse team was on the wrong side of a massive comeback by Ridge High School Saturday, April 4.
The Red Raiders took an 8-5 lead in the middle of the fourth quarter but watched their advantage evaporate in the final moments after three straight goals from Charlie Cutting elevated Ridge to the 9-8 win.
With two seconds left on the clock and down one score, Cutting sent the game to overtime. It was his second goal in the final minute of regulation and gave all the momentum to the Ridge offense to start overtime.
Two seconds away from victory only minutes before, the Raiders took the field to start overtime, but their offense never got a chance to possess the ball. Brody Hansen won the opening face-off and helped deliver the ball to the hot hand, Cutting, who scored the golden goal in the team’s first possession of extra time. Jack Fedor assisted on the score to cap off his three-goal, three-assist game.
“My biggest takeaway was we gave them that game,” Ocean City head coach Joe LaTorre said. “Giving full effort for 48 minutes is the only way they are going to win moving forward. If they think they can come in and play a half, that is the result moving forward. Hats off to Ridge. They played a great game.”
Ocean City did not trail once the whole game until that overtime score with seniors leading the way on offense. Last season’s points leader, Anthony Pontari, got Ocean City started with a pair of goals. Jack Scherbin followed up on Pontari with a pair of scores on his own to build a 4-2 halftime lead.
The offense had the most success with extended possessions in which they could dissect the defense and attack any weak points. On the opposing side, Ridge managed to turn face-off wins into quick shots before the Raider defense could settle in. Fedor came out of the halftime break and scored two goals in the first minute of the second half to tie the game.
Despite the bad start to the half, the Raiders stabilized and got back to what worked for them earlier. Pontari capitalized on a nearly three-minute possession with a goal and watched as Kevin Entress piled on two more of his own to give Ocean City a solid 7-4 lead.
Including the senior group of Pontari, Scherbin, and Entress, the Raiders retained most of their core roster from a season ago. Six of the top seven points leaders from last season all returned to the team with players such as Otter Donahue who picked up where they left off a season ago.
After a big sophomore season with 31 goals, Donahue put up a nine-point game in the season opener against Eastern High School. He found the back of the net four times and assisted another five en route to a comfortable 16-5 win.
One new face on the team is goalie Timmy Windfelder. The junior stood tall in his third game in the net and helped the defense kill three penalties with three saves while down a player. He finished the game with 13 saves.
After the first three games of the season Ocean City’s record sits at 1-2 with two tough opponents on the horizon.
Over spring break the Raiders will have one home game against 4-0 Washington Township on April 9.
Following that game there will be a rematch of last season’s Cape-Atlantic League championship between the defending champ Raiders and the Mainland Mustangs. Ocean City beat Mainland in both matchups last year in two nail-biting finishes that were decided by a total of three goals. Along with Ocean City, Mainland retained most of its core roster so another tight battle could be in store. The game is set for April 13 at Mainland Regional High School. Game time is 6 p.m.
– STORY by WILLIAM TRUITT/For the Sentinel
– PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
