BOYS LAX - PARTY CRASHERS: MONDON 14, TR NORTH 7

By Bob Badders - Senior Staff Writer

    TOMS RIVER -- What is it again that they say about revenge?
    Last season it was Toms River North that walked onto Monsignor Donovan's home field and ripped a division title from the Griffins' hands. A year later and with the same Shore Conference Class A South division title on the line, the Griffins were more than willing to deliver some payback.
    Junior attackman Chris Galler led a dominant offensive effort with a game-high seven goals, while fellow junior Mike Duddy added two goals and four assists, as the Griffins spoiled the Mariners' bid for an outright division title with a 14-7 victory on Thursday night on the turf at Toms River North. Junior goalie Chris Santos made 15 saves and Joe Gulli, Frank Gunteski and Tim Price helped spearhead a defense that limited the Mariners to four goals over the game's final 46 minutes. Thursday's win didn't just prevent the Mariners from celebrating, however. It also gave the Griffins a share of the division title, the first division title of any kind for the boys lacrosse program.
    "This was huge," Galler said. "We lost to (Toms River) East earlier in the season, but we rallied back to beat all the other teams. We've been looking forward to this since last year when we lost to them on our field. We were out for revenge, and we got it."
    "It's my first varsity season," Santos said. "So to be rewarded with something like this is amazing right now."
    You got a sense early that Toms River North (8-3, 6-1) was not going to let the opportunity for an undefeated A South season slip away. Brendan Hirtes scored 15 seconds into the game and the Mariners kept pressing with goals by Kyle Kermick and Ryan Haney in the first 2:02 of the opening quarter. The home crowd and the home team were equally as fired up while the Griffins were shell-shocked and disorganized. One timeout changed all that.
    After a brief chat between head coach Chris Percy and the Griffins players, Monsignor Donovan retook the field with a surprisingly renewed sense of optimism and poise. The defense settled down and sophomore middie Conner Yatauro slowly began to take over the game from the face-off circle. At 7:47, Galler cut toward the net from the right sideline and Yatauro dropped him a pass over two defenders. With plenty of room to run, Galler got close before snapping a shot past Mariners goalie Tim Wolcott to cut the Mariners' lead to 3-1.
    Less than a minute later while on a man-up situation, Galler scored again when he cut to the net from the weak side and Duddy hit him with a pinpoint pass. At 10:40, Galler drew three defenders his way before dishing to Yatauro at the top of the box. The sophomore stepped into a shot and ripped it past Wolcott to tie the score at three.
    "We knew if we won face-offs, we could score," Duddy said. "It was a big factor, and Conner was huge for us. The timeout helped us settle down and get back to our gameplan."
    "We just tried to regain composure during the timeout," Percy said. "We came out maybe trying a little too hard and we talked about the fact that it's a long game and we've seen teams come back on us. That motivated us to do the same thing to them."
    Kermick scored with 33 seconds left in the first quarter to give the Mariners back the lead at 4-3, but that did little to discourage the Griffins on their way to a big night. At 4:10 of the second quarter, Santos cleared the ball to Jon Curtin in his own half and the junior middie make a brilliant run upfield before finishing with a low shot past Wolcott to tie the score at four. Yatauro then found Curtin all alone in the middle of the box and he unloaded a laser into the back of the cage for the Griffins' first lead of the game, 5-4 at 6:10 of the second quarter.
    "They had all the momentum in the beginning, but when we tied it up it was smooth sailing from there," Duddy said. "We didn't even look at the scoreboard. We just kept trying to pound it in."
    And pound it in they did. Steve Rossi tied the score at five for North, but that was last goal it would score for some time. Yatauro, Galler and Duddy each scored in a span of 2:12 to close the first half and give the Griffins an 8-5 lead. The break couldn't cool off Monsignor Donovan as Duddy scored off a feed from Curtin 44 seconds into the third quarter while the Griffins had the extra man. Yatauro dominated in the face-off circle during the second half, going 9-1 overall and 6-0 in the third quarter.
    After a takeaway, Gulli hit Nick Fuirita with a three-quarter-field-length pass that ended in a goal at 5:12 for a 10-5 lead. Galler's fourth goal of the game made it 11-5 and all but assured the Griffins of a victory. Mitch Donovan made it 11-6 at 10:38, but Galler got it back less than a minute later with his fifth of the game.
    Haney opened the fourth quarter with a goal off a pass from Howie Rothweiler, but there would be no comeback for the Mariners. Galler scored with the man-advantage at 1:59 and then again at 9:35, both off feeds from Duddy, to close out the scoring and give the Griffins a piece of the Class A South title. Santos was at his best in the fourth quarter with six of his saves, the most he had to make in any period of the game.
    When the Griffins lost this game to the Mariners last season it had a detrimental effect on the remainder of their season. They stumbled down the stretch, losing four of their last five before being crushed by Bergen Catholic in the NJSIAA non-public playoffs. Now, they're hoping a win has just the opposite effect.
    "Last year we got beat and it kind of killed our season, we went downhill after that," Duddy said. "But now we're sky-high and it's a totally different scenario."
    "Losing that game last year was really hard and some of the guys cashed it in after that," Percy said. "This gives the guys something to look forward to the rest of the season and also helps them realize the ability they have when they come together and play well."
   
   
Box Score

Monsignor Donovan 14, Toms River North 7

Monsignor Donovan (8-3, 6-1) 3 5 4 2 - 14
Toms River North (8-3, 6-1)     4 1 1 1 -   7

Goals: (MD) Chris Galler 7, Michael Duddy 2, Jon Curtin 2, Conner Yatauro 2, Nick Fuirita; (TRN) Kyle Kermick 2, Ryan Haney 2, Brendan Hirtes, Mitch Donovan, Steve Rossi.
Assists: (MD) Michael Duddy 4, Conner Yatauro 2, Chris Galler, Jon Curtin, Joe Gulli.
Ground balls: (MD) -  41: Chris Galler 9, Michael Duddy 8, Joe Gulli 6, Frank Gunteski 6, Tim Price 3, Conner Yaturo 5, Brendan Gill, Ryan Milana, Jon Curtin, Nick Fuirita; (TRN) - 37: Kyle Kermick 8, Rob McCombs 6, Ryan O'Donnell 4, Howie Rothweiler 3, Ryan Haney 3, Steve Rossi 3, Todd Webb 2, Brendan Hirtes 2, Anthony Lacher 2, Eric DeMartino 2, Sean Hirtes, James Thompson.
Shots: (MD) - 34: Chris Galler 11, Conner Yatauro 6, Michael Duddy 6, Jon Curtin 5, Nick Fuirita 4, Brendan McMahon 2; (TRN) - 37: Ryan Haney 7, Ryan O'Donnell 7, Kyle Kermick 5, Sean Hirtes 4, Brendan Hirtes 3, Steve Rossi 3, Howie Rothweiler 2, Mitch Donovan 2, Todd Webb 2, Andy Spedick, Blair Ollendorf.
Saves: (MD) Chris Santos 15; (TRN) Tim Wolcott 13.
Face-offs: Monsignor Donovan 13-12.
Extra man: Monsignor Donovan 3-for-9; Toms River North 1-for-5.



E-mail: badders@digitalsports.com