Crusaders Falter in County Lacrosse Semifinals

Bergen Catholic brought a business-like approach to their first round game in the 2012 BCCA Lacrosse Tournament, and BC's depth was just too much for Waldwick too handle as the Crusaders rolled to a 18-6 victory at Crusader Stadium on Friday afternoon. Brendon McGuire and Mack Brown each recorded hat tricks, while 11 different Crusaders tallied goals in the game. Bergen then decimated Mahwah in the quarterfinals Tuesday, 13-6 to set up a semifinals date with archrival Don Bosco on Thursday. McGuire netted a career high 7 goals to lead the Crusaders to victory. But the dream ended there as the Crusaders fell to arch rival Don Bosco Prep, 12-4 in the semifinals as Bergen went scoreless in the second and third periods. Brendon McGuire, Chris Blewitt, Nick DiScola, and Matt Haemmerle each tallied one goal while goalie Lance Gibson recorded 12 saves in the loss for the Red & Gold.

Senior captain Dzan Harba continues to lead a resurging Golden Hawks tennis squad as the team downed Bergenfield 4-1 behind his 6-0, 6-1 defeat of Josh Ramilo. Tae Hee Lee won third singles 6-4, 7-5 while doubles teams Patrick Thane/Brandon Pepi and Ilya Leifer/Kyle Shtern secured the win. RD continued their streak earning a 4-1 decision over Westwood before falling to Ramsey in Monday's shutout. Harba once againled the charge as River Dell downed Fort Lee 3-2 after he defeated Andrew Lee 6-3, 6-2. Doubles teams Brandon Pepi/Patrick Thane earned their win 6-2, 6-2 as well as Ilya Leifer/Kyle Shtern who took their match in three (6-2, 4-6, 6-1). The Hawks fell in the first round of the state tournament, 3-2 to Kinnelon as the doubles teams avoided the shutout.

Despite outstanding efforts from first singles Brian Balico and second singles Matt Ligouri, Bergen tennis could not overcome the force that was the Paramus Catholic Paladins, falling 3-2. Bergen then rebounded a day later to defeat Passaic 4-1. Balico earned a double 6-0 victory over St. Joseph Regional's Eric Frasca on Monday but the rest of the team could not hold on against the Knights and fell 4-1.

Bergen golf set a new record when they defeated Pascack Hills 145-151 on Thursday afternoon. The Crusaders ultimately ruled the day, and received amazing performances from their top 4 golfers, including a 1-under (34) from Harrison Shih. Sean O'Neill and Zach Egermayer were 2-over (36) and Erick Alonso finished with a 37. The Crusaders then topped the five-school field at Valley Brook Golf Course for the United Division title with a team 146 - Shih and Matt Love each stroked a 36 while Alonso and Ryan Rose finished with a 37. A day later they handed St. Peter's Prep a 146-177 decision as Matt Love, Ryan Rose, and Chang Ju Lee each shot par (36). Shih and Alonso were both one-over (36) as Bergen stroked a 147 and finish ahead of Tenafly’s 160 at Knickerbocker Country Club. Rose finished with a 37 and Egermayer a 38. Bergen proved to be the best team in the entire Big North Conference on Thursday, winning the Tournament Championship by an amazing 13 strokes from the nearest competitor. The Crusaders (25-1) were led by the combined efforts of Matt Love and Sean O'Neill who each carded a 4-over (74) on the day. 

Softball ran into the high flying Cardinals of Westwood on Friday and while the Lady Hawks picked up five hits, the team was unable to bring any runners in and fell 4-0. River Dell gave arch rival and undefeated Ramsey a scare on Monday when the Lady Hawks almost defeated the Rams in an eight inning comeback. Ramsey's Morgan Bishop tripled to bring in two runs in the fifth to give the Rams the lead but a two-run triple from Cathy Antonelli tied the game forcing extra innings. Rams' Ally Mende picked up the final run to win. River Dell then fell during a one-hitter to Ridgewood, 2-0.

Ryan Duran blasted a homerun during the Hawks 3-2 victory over Westwood to overcome their prior two-game loss streak. He later helped River Dell to a 10 run shutout over Hackensack alongisde Ryan McDonough, Evan Drummond and John Arancio. Archrival Ramsey was no competition on Monday as River Dell flew to an 8-2 six inning matchup with Ryan Duran taking the mound allowing five hits. Ryan McDonnough homered and Brandon Martinez blasted a triple. Martinex was clutch in the Hawks 7-2 make-up against Tenafly on Tuesday blasting a pair of RBI doubles. With a trio of doubles, the Golden Hawks knocked off the Fort Lee Bridgemen on Wednesday, 2-0 as Ryan McDonough earned the winning RBI and also stood strong on the mound as well.

In a tight race to the finish, Lady Hawks lacrosse came up just a little short against Fair Lawn, falling 10-7 despite keeping the Cutters on their toes the whole time. Tori Schettino and Emily Wong both netted a pair each, with Sam Kay, Emily Lawlor and Gabrielle Davidson rounding out the score. Rebecca Meyers made 7 saves while Cutters goalie Rachel Gruber faced extreme pressure and finished with 17. Sitting with a four-point deficit at halftime (11-7), the Lady Hawks were outshot in the second by Pequannock and fell 18-10 in one of their toughest matches to date. The Panthers provided heavy firepower as seven athletes netted multiple goals. Emily Lawlor and Emily Wong each earned a hat trick for the Lady Hawks with Sam Kay and Tori Schettino netting two a piece. A scrappy Scotch-Plains team just stayed ahead of the Hawks in their 20-13 victory as Schettino earned six goals with Wong following with five.

Pascack Valley once again proved to be more than the Golden Hawks lacrosse team could handle in their 9-4 defeat in the first round of the BCCA Tournament. The Indians took an early lead and continued to control the tempo as Michael DeBenedeto, Grant Kuchar, Mike Neville and Evan Rowley tried to advance the Hawks to the second round. Ben Sagerman made 14 saves in the cage. Looking ahead to finish the regular season strong, River Dell decimated neighboring Old Tappan 13-2 on Monday as Steve Luca netted four, Kevin Barry a hat trick, Rowley two, Mike Monopoli and Martin Moon rounded out the win.

River Dell track struggled at the County Seat Invitational in Ramsey over the weekend as Erin Smith took fifth in the shot put and third in the discuss as the lone Lady Hawks representative.  Matt Koh dominated the shot and discus throws as the only River Dell boy at the meet, throwing a personal best of 54-8 in the shot and 148 feet in the discus.

Competing at Fair Lawn in tournament action, Bergen Catholic volleyball split the day, losing to the host Cutters 20-25, 16-25 while downing Bloomfield, 25-16, 25-19. Brendan McCullagh had 11 kills, Chris Luna 6 kills, Kirk Nouhan 32 assists, Charles Fraser 4 digs and Hacik Arslanoglu 6 digs to finish the day. Bergen later took down Passaic 25-22, 25-18 with McCullagh recording 13 kills, Nouhan 29 assists and Arslangolu 8 digs. BC earned a 25-8 25-14 victory over Bergen Tech with McCullagh’s 11 kills, Nouhan’s 17 assists and Arslanoglu’s 7 digs. The Crusaders moved into the County semifinals after they once again downed Hackensack, 25-13, 25-12.

Bergen Catholic baseball used an exceptional relief pitching performance from Matt Millus and saw their offense come to life in key situations, as the Crusaders handed rival St. Joseph Regional a 7-3 loss on Monday afternoon at Overpeck County Park in Palisades Park. Millus allowed only one unearned run on three hits and gave up two walks earning his third victory of the season in the process.  Zach Cerbo collected three RBIs and led the Crusader hitting attack early in the game, while Ryan Kelly belted his third home run of the season later on in the game to seal the deal for the Red & Gold.

River Dell golf was unable to repeat as the Patriot Division champion with the title going to Pascack Valley this year. The Hawks finished third with a team 175 at Rockleigh as Scott Kim finished with 39.