Entress scores winning goal; teammate Windfelder makes 17 saves
OCEAN CITY – It took everything he and his teammates had, but Kevin Entress and the Ocean City Red Raiders are South Jersey lacrosse champions.
After four overtime periods of a back-and-forth defensive battle, Entress scored the golden goal to lift the Red Raiders past Manasquan High School 6-5 on June 9 for their second sectional title since 2021.
“It was the fourth overtime, and we were all playing on dead legs there, but coach’s game plan came through, and that’s what got us the big win,” Entress said.
Ocean City regained possession of the ball with 11 seconds left in the fourth overtime period, and head coach Joe LaTorre had a simple plan for Entress in the huddle following a timeout.
“When that ball went out of bounds and I saw there was 11 seconds left, I said, ‘Kevin pick the ball up, go to the goal and put it in the back of the net,’” LaTorre said. “I knew he was going to do it. That kid has ice in his veins.”
Entress followed the plan without hesitation and scored the winning goal with three seconds to spare in the period. It was his third score of the game. He celebrated by sprinting across the field to leap into the stand of Raider Nation fans with goalie Timmy Windfelder and the rest of the Raiders right behind him.
Ocean City asked a lot out of Windfelder and the defense. They came through.
Manasquan possessed the ball for much of the second half and the overtime periods. The junior recorded 17 saves, including a shot in the final 10 seconds of regulation to send the game to overtime.
With the pressure raised higher knowing one goal could end the season, Windfelder stood tall and made four big saves in overtime.
Windfelder did not waste a moment to deflect praise to the defensive effort around him.
“First of all, it was the defense that gave me shots that I wanted to see. I wouldn’t be able to see certain shots without that game plan. So it really comes down to that they made my life easier than it had to be,” he said.
The goalie got acclimated to Ocean City and his new teammates fast after he transferred into the school one month before the season started.
“My hat’s off to Timmy Windfelder. He is an absolute brick wall, but I also have to shout out our defense,” LaTorre said. “They played 64 total minutes and the defense was forcing (Manasquan) into shots we wanted them to take. Every time we came back from an overtime, I kept saying, ‘We still have life. Our defense and Tim are not giving up any more goals. We just need to get our one shot.’”
Entress delivered the one shot the Raiders were looking for after they were put on the back foot by Manasquan in the second half. Entress scored the game’s first two goals and with the help of Otter Donohue and built a 3-0 lead in the first five minutes of play.
Eventually the score was 5-3 in favor of the Raiders to start the fourth quarter after scores by Jack Scherbin and Charlie Beseris. Manasquan put together its offense after that and possessed the ball for nearly the entire quarter.
Windfelder stood firm and blocked nearly everything that came at him, but the continued assault from a team as good as Manasquan eventually broke through and forced the game into overtime.
During Manasquan’s comeback attempt and subsequent overtime periods, Entress said the Raiders tried to stay “relaxed” in the face of the mounting pressure.
“A lot of things were not going our way, but we just had to stay calm and play through it. Not everything is going to work out in a game, but the more you stay calm and composed, the better result you’ll get.”
The Raider defense jarred the ball loose from Manasquan at midfield with overtime number four about to expire and set up the offense to finish the game and get to play one more time.
“I said to the kids afterwards there is no luckier people in the world than us,” LaTorre said. “The fact that our coaching staff gets to work with these kids every day and today’s win bought us three more days with each other I cannot thank them enough.”
Asked where he would rank this game on his list of favorites, LaTorre only had one other game he could compare it to.
“This game right now, I have to rank it 1A, 1B with 2021 when we beat Shawnee for our first South Jersey title.”
The reward the Raiders earned with their sectional title is a trip to The College of New Jersey to play in the Group II state championship game. Ocean City’s opponent will be the Group II North Jersey champion Sparta High School. Sparta upset No. 1 seeded West Morris on the road to reach the title game. The final game of the season is set 11 a.m. Saturday, June 13.
– STORY by WILLIAM TRUITT/For the Sentinel
– PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
