By CLYDE HUGHES/Special to the Sentinel
OCEAN CITY – Ocean City senior Jake Schneider scored his 100th career lacrosse goal last Wednesday, May 26, as the Red Raiders scored an impressive 17-4 victory over rival Mainland Regional at Carey Stadium, giving them a big boost going into the South Jersey Group III playoffs this week.
The achievement by Schneider, who reached the record at the 3:32 mark of the second quarter, is even more impressive given that this season was shorter because of coronavirus restrictions and he, along with the rest of the teammates, lost their entire junior season because of the pandemic.
“I’ve been wanting this since my freshman year,” Schneider said after the game with family members waiting for him with pictures and balloons shaped in the number 100. “To be able to get it against Mainland is pretty good.”
Schneider, who also has more than 100 assists in his career, has a well-documented dislike for his rivals at Mainland dating back to football season. He didn’t hesitate to needle his cross-bay opponents.
“It made it that much better that it happened against Mainland, it really does,” Schneider said.
Ocean City coach Joe LaTorre said he was not surprised that Schneider was able to reach the milestone regardless of the setbacks.
“He’s a special kid,” LaTorre said. “The great thing about these seniors is that I remember them when they were in about the fifth or sixth grade. They are the same kids now, with the same energy and I thanked them for what they did for the program and showing the younger guys how it’s done.”
Schneider said Ocean City is going into the Group III playoffs on a high note and believes they will be able make a deep run. The Red Raiders go into the South Jersey sectional tournament as the No. 1 seed.
“We had a couple of tough losses early but I think we’re going to be ready for the playoffs,” Schneider said. “It will be a tough road for us actually but we’ve got to be ready. We just have to work hard and play hard. That’s all we’ve got to do.
“I think we can definitely make up for losing last year with a good playoff run and win the championship,” he added.
Brady Rauner, another senior who scored 3 goals against Mainland, said he believes the game will help the Red Raiders smooth out any kinks as they prepare for the playoffs.
“It was nice getting a big win under our belts against a big rival,” Rauner said. “We have the bye so we will be able to get some good practices in and we’ll be ready to make a run in the playoffs.”
The Ocean City-Mainland game was a clear sign of two teams going in opposite directions. For Ocean City (10-6), it was their third victory in the last four games going into the playoffs this week. The Red Raiders will play at home Thursday against the winner of No. 8 Brick Township vs. No. 9 Northern Burlington.
Mainland (7-7), after a solid start in this coronavirus-shortened season, went into the playoffs this week struggling after losing four of their last five games. The Mustangs on Tuesday played Clearview Regional on the road in the first found of the South Jersey Group III playoffs.
“I really don’t have too much to say,” admitted Mainland coach Clayton Smith after the game. “It was one of those games. It’s a late year for us. Every kid you see here is our whole team, less four freshmen.”
Smith said he was impressed with Ocean City’s defensive pressure that constantly out-muscled the Mustangs around the goal and prevented them from getting anything going offensively on a consistent basis.
“The big thing we can take from this is how much Ocean City’s defense pressured us,” Smith said. “I like the way they play defense. We should take a lesson from that for themselves. With the young players that we have and the COVID-19 year.”
While the girls lacrosse game between Ocean City and Mainland the night before at Carey Stadium was filled with drama to the very end, with the Red Raiders pulling out an 11-10 win, this game was a reversal.
The Red Raiders boys built a 6-0 lead by the end of the first quarter and the contest was never closer than that.
Rauner said the first-quarter start was something the team talked about before the game.
“This season we’ve been coming out too flat in the first quarter and giving up a lot of leads,” Rauner said. “Coach LaTorre talked about coming out fast and getting on them early and putting it on them quick.
“I think we were able to take a lot of wind out of their sails fast. We had the crowd and it was a good environment to get on them early.”
Ocean City built a 14-2 lead by halftime, earning a running clock through the second half.
“We told the seniors this is the last time you’re going to get to play these guys and they’re our big rival,” LaTorre said. “Regardless of the year, this game has always been intense over the past nine years I’ve been here because it’s a rival. It seems like it doesn’t matter who the better team is because both teams play so hard. They continued to play hard and kept us from scoring a lot in the second half.”
Smith said the lost year hurt Mainland badly because of the leadership last year’s seniors brought to the squad.
“We had a good core last year that would have trained these kids on how to deal with this better. We’re not the only team that it happened to but having that season would have helped us a lot. During the off-season, the younger kids need to have the stick in their hands and get to the summer camps and clinics.
“We have a couple of kids who play travel. We need to take this season as a springboard into next year. Everyone will come back one year older and one year more mature. Hopefully that will lead to the mental maturity. That will help a lot.”
Smith said he will be keeping an eye out and rooting for Ocean City in the playoffs.
“I’m looking forward to see how Ocean City will do in the South Jersey Group III championships,” Smith said. “They’ll be the No. 1 seed and I would like to see another Cape-Atlantic League team take that for the first time ever. I’m hoping that they will do well.”’
LaTorre said if his team can continue to play with the enthusiasm they showed again Mainland the sky should be the limit.
“If we keep the energy the remainder of the year, we should be pretty successful. Just from an intensity standpoint, if we bring this every time we’ll be in good shape regardless of the skillset. The effort was there today. The attitude was there. The discipline was there for most of the game and that’s what we’ve got to continue the rest of the season.”