Red Raider sophomore scores 100th goal as O.C. tops LCMR in CAL semifinals
OCEAN CITY – The Caper Tigers boys lacrosse team spends its regular season punching above its weight.
The Group I school often comes across bigger schools competing in the Cape-Atlantic League and in spite of that competition has compiled an 11-4 record.
Some of those schools are too big to handle. That included Ocean City on Friday in the Cape-Atlantic League lacrosse semifinals.
The Red Raiders are the defending Group III South Jersey champion. Although Ocean City sports a 9-7 record, all of the losses have been to tough out-of-conference teams to help the Red Raiders prepare for the sectional tournament. Ocean City is undefeated in the CAL.
The Caper Tiger boys were only able to score one goal in the 14-1 loss, but coach Cole Blackley knows challenges like that are only going to help his team in the sectional tournament.
“We really just try to come out here and work as hard as we can,” Blackley said. “We’re a young team and it’s hard to come out against the (sectional) champions from last year and play a team like this, but we kept our heads held high and we work our asses off every day. We just try to work as hard as we can against teams like this.”
Before Friday’s game, the Caper Tiger boys had only lost to Holy Spirit (12-2) twice and split their games with Mainland, another Group III school. Holy Spirit beat Egg Harbor Township to make it to the CAL finals against Ocean City.
“We did really well in the CAL this year. It was a really good division for us. (They went 10-3 in conference.) All the teams are pretty even,” Blackley said. “Obviously when you come to Ocean City they’re a little bigger than us so it’s a little easier for them, but I really like competing in the CAL. Everyone has been really competitive this year so I can’t complain a lot.”
The coach said Macky Bonner has been a “huge leader” for the Caper Tigers. Two others having a strong year on defense are Jackson Brown and Wayne Rickel, who he also called “huge leaders” for LCMR. On attack, Blackley cited Taj Turner and Matt Brown as his “go-to guys” on the attack. “They’re really been working a lot for our team this season.”
He added Bonner is the main scorer from the team’s midfield. “Our attack unit spreads out the scoring which is awesome for us,” he said.
Blackley said playing a team such as Ocean City “is really going to help us plan for the state tournament. They’re a good team and a huge rival for us. This was a really good team for us to start practicing for our state tournament and I’m really excited for it.”
Grimley nets 100th
Sophomore Pat Grimley, who has been the scoring leader for the Red Raiders during his first two years with the team, netted six goals against the Caper Tigers, including his 100th career goal, a quick milestone for a sophomore.
“It’s something cool to hit. I got to 100 pretty quick, a lot earlier than I thought I would,” Grimley said. He attributed his scoring to the team’s ball movement and the way the team runs its offense, often with him finishing. “The ball ends up in my stick and I put it in the back of the net. It’s a well-run offense.”
Grimley said the team had been looking forward to the CAL championship. “We had it on our calendars all season,” he said. “We’re not overlooking anybody. We’re ready to play. Heading into the Group III South (tournament) we have some tough competition, some good teams. We’re hoping to capitalize and take home another title.”
Ocean City 14
LCMR 1
In addition to Grimley scoring Friday, Ori Levy-Smith and Tommy Schutta each had two goals and Jack Davis, John Moyer, Dom Guerrera and Aidan Walsh had a goal each. Schutta led the assists stats with three, Guerrera and Grimley had two each and Moyer and Davis had one apiece.
Winfield Dunn had five saves in net for the Red Raiders and Gavin Neal had one.
Dylan Dwyer won all 19 of the face-offs for Ocean City.
Ocean City was scheduled to play Holy Spirit for the CAL title on Tuesday. The game had been set for Monday, but predicted bad storms delayed it.
Ocean City is the third seed in the South Jersey Group III sectional with Shawnee at No. 1, Clearview at No. 2 and Moorestown at No. 4. Mainland was a projected No. 8 seed.
Ocean City hosts No. 14 Colts Neck today (Wedneday) and Mainland hosts No. 9 Hightstown.
LCMR is the No. 10 seed in the Group I South Jersey sectional and travels to No. 7 New Providence today.
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel Staff