Men's Lacrosse Captures Skyline
Conference Championship
MONTCLAIR, N.J. (5/3/08) -
Sophomore attack Scott Leathem (Fair Lawn, N.J.)
scored from just off the right side with 57 seconds remaining as
third-seeded Kean University notched the last three goals to
capture the Skyline Conference Men's Lacrosse Championship with an
8-7 come-from-behind win over top-seeded Montclair State at Sprague
Field on Saturday evening.
Senior goalkeeper Dave Nichols (Florham Park,
N.J.) (pictured right) made 12 saves and earned Most
Valuable Player honors in the tournament as the Cougars tallied
twice in the final 1:48 of the game to win their first Skyline
title and earn the program's first trip to the NCAA Division III
Men's Lacrosse Championship. The pairings for the NCAA Tournament
will be announced on Monday, May 5.
The Cougars, who captured the program's fifth title in school
history after also winning four Knickerbocker Lacrosse Conference
championships, also tie the program record for wins in a season
(14-5) to match the 14 wins that the 1993 team (14-2) produced in
winning the program's last Knickerbocker championship.
Sophomore Taylor Bonner (Old Bridge, N.J.) had three
goals for Montclair State, which completed its season at 12-5. The
Red Hawks, who went unbeaten in Skyline play during the regular
season, including a 14-5 win over Kean on April 9, had their
three-game winning streak snapped.
Bonner's third goal with 10:34 to play gave Montclair State a 7-5
lead, but it turned out to be the final score for MSU, as the
Cougar defense turned it up a notch allowing just two shots the
rest of the way. After Nichols made the last of his 12 saves, Kean
moved the ball down the field and pulled within one with 7:04
remaining as Chris DeCarlo (Sandy, Utah) tallied a
goal from in front of the cage to get the contest within a one-goal
margin.
After trading turnovers, Kean would get the ball back with 5:35 to
go and held the ball for nearly four minutes, getting off four
shots before finally coming up with the tying goal. After
C.J. Gannon (Morris Plains, N.J.) picked up a
ground ball, Dennis Lukacsko (Lincoln Park, N.J.)
found sophomore Anthony Bertucci (Edison, N.J.) on
the left side for the tying goal as the game was knotted at
7-7.
Montclair State would win the face off but turned the ball over,
the Red Hawks 15th of the game, giving Kean an opportunity, which
they would take full advantage of as Leathem collected his
team-leading 47th goal of the year putting the Cougars in front for
the first time since midway through the second quarter.
The Red Hawks had one last chance as it won the ensuing faceoff,
but Chris Masiulis (Ellicott City, Md.) forced a
turnover and Tom Eller (West Caldwell, N.J.)
picked up the ground ball as the clock ran out giving Kean the
conference title and the trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Kean jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first six minutes of the
contest as Cope scored twice and Mike Terry (Maplewood,
N.J.) added a goal. Bonner registered his first with 7:43
left and after Eric Gillar (Milltown, N.J.)
tallied for Kean, Mario Passafiume (Boonton, N.J.) scored
with 1:52 left as MSU trailed 4-2 after one.
In the second period, Tyler Meixner (Hamburg, N.J.) and
A.J. Bachman (Montville, N.J.) netted goals early as
Montclair tied the game at 4-4, but Bertucci finished off a Gannon
feed to put Kean back on top at 5-4. Meixner's goal 33 seconds
later retied the game and Bonner scored with eight seconds left
before halftime as Montclair State led 6-5 at the break.
Meixner had two goals and an assist for Montclair State, which got
five saves from goalkeeper Thomas Bowers (Hamburg, N.J.).
John Schiavone (Montclair, N.J.) won eight faceoffs and
had five ground balls while Mike Grouss (Summit, N.J.) was
4-of-5 on faceoffs with six ground balls.
Eller had three ground balls for Kean, which got four faceoff wins
from Justin Lappen (Tolland, Conn.).
