OCEAN CITY – Thanks to great defense and a brand new goalie, the Ocean City High School Red Raiders are Cape-Atlantic League champions again in boys lacrosse.
The Raiders won their third-straight CAL tournament title with a dominant 12-4 victory over Holy Spirit High School May 17.
Goalie Henry Vaules pitched a shutout in the first half and allowed onlyl four goals by the strong Holy Spirit squad. The sophomore has started every game at goalie in his first season at the position.
“I really just have to thank my defense,” Vaules said. “They came out and played great today. Aggressive on GBs (ground balls) and everything else all came together.”
Ocean City head coach Joe LaTorre spoke after the game about Vaules and what he has accomplished this season.
“What I’m proud of is we had no goalies going into this season. Our guy has only been playing goalie for a few months and we are playing the best teams in the state,” LaTorre said. “This whole team has rallied around Henry and he has done a great job.”
Ocean City put together a full team effort in the title game. Vaules and the defense dominated the first half while the Raider offense blew the game wide open after halftime with seven unanswered goals.
The physical back-and-forth battle was broken up by Raider Chase Labarre, who scored the game’s first goal. After a couple shots were blocked by the Holy Spirit defense, Labarre broke through and found a groove.
Two minutes after his first goal Labarre scored again and gave the Raiders a 2-0 lead. The senior got Ocean City’s sideline and fans fired up early in the contest.
The leading goal scorer for the Raiders, Pat Grimley, got into the action early in the second quarter. He had chances turned away earlier but finally broke through with a tricky shot behind his back.
Throughout the first half, Holy Spirit had plenty of scoring opportunities but could not get through the stout Ocean City defense. Joey Berardis forced multiple turnovers for his offense including an intercepted pass.
Holy Spirit came out of halftime firing on all cylinders. The Spartans scored two goals in the first minute and a half and flipped the pressure toward Ocean City.
Leading 3-2, the Raiders’ offense exploded.
Grimley scored two goals within a minute of each other, one of which was another highlight real score in which he fell to the ground and still managed to score midair. Charlie Schutta got a score of his own to extend the Raiders’ lead to 6-2 in only a minute and a half.
Ocean City continued its relentless offense as Labarre added his third goal of the game. Jon Moyer got on the board with a score while Grimley added his fourth.
The Raiders were leading by as little as a single goal going into the third quarter yet broke the game open.
“Their offense is dangerous and we knew we had to survive their runs,” LaTorre said. “At halftime I felt we had our looks in the first half but just didn’t bury them. Their goalie made some great saves. I told the guys in the second half the shots will fall and that we must keep taking them and they did.”
John Williams was a big factor, winning more than half of the face-offs he took. Holy Spirit’s offense had few opportunities to match the Raiders’ firepower thanks to Williams’ control.
In between possessions Vaules and the Raider defense continued to hold strong after the quick burst by Holy Spirit earlier in the quarter.
Freshman Otter Donohue picked up a goal of his own after Holy Spirit scored two goals late in desperation.
Grimley scored two more goals to ensure victory in the final quarter and finished with six. He will enter the playoffs with more than 70 goals this season.
“Pat Grimley is a once-in-a-lifetime kid,” LaTorre said. “It’s going to be very hard to replace him.”
The Raiders’ defeat of the Spartans came a week after they lost to Holy Spirit 19-11.
The Raiders held Holy Spirit to four goals in the championship game after giving up 19 goals to the Spartans a week prior on May 7. In the rare Cape-Atlantic League loss, the Raiders gave up the most goals in a game this season in the loss at home to Holy Spirt.
Ocean City finished the regular season with a record of 11-7 and is the No. 3 seed in the South Jersey Group III sectionals. The group is full of strong teams including defending Group III champion Shawnee, the No. 2 seed, and Moorestown, the No. 1 seed that eliminated Ocean City last year in double overtime.
Ocean City opens the tournament Saturday hosting No. 14 Hightstown. Mainland, the No. 5 seed, hosts No. 12 Colts Neck. Shawnee is on Ocean City’s side of the bracket.
– STORY by WILLIAM TRUITT/For the Sentinel
– PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
