Delbarton Lax Undefeated Going into the TOC After Cruising Past Montgomery
Kean University – The Delbarton Green Wave take their undefeated season into the Tournament of Champions Final at Rutgers on Saturday afternoon. Delbarton has played in the T of C Final at Rutgers in the past, but they have never had an undefeated season going into the game.
“We have played at Yurcak Field,” Delbarton coach Charles Ruebling said. “It is one of the finest lacrosse facilities in the country and it is the best possible revenue for this special event.”
The Green Wave beat the No. 4 seeded Montgomery Cougars to reach the T of C Final to go 22-0 on the season. Delbarton out shot the Cougars throughout the game. Delbarton had 51 shots on goal, while Montgomery only had 21 shots on goal. And that helped the Green Wave to the easy 17-7 win.
“Montgomery is a very talented team that plays (a) very fine style of lacrosse,” Ruebling said. “They were well coached, very athletic, and played with a lot of intensity and desire.”
Delbarton was 23-27 on face-offs throughout the game, including 5-5 in the second period, while Montgomery was 4-27 in face-offs. Terry White was 11-11 in face-offs, while his teammate T. J. O’Donnell was 11-14 in face-offs.
“I think we were fortunate to be winning the face-offs,” Ruebling said. “If they had been able to control the ball at the X, we would really have had our hands full.”
But the Cougars didn’t control the game. The Green Wave got out to an early lead when Jack McBride and Chris McBride scored the first two goals of the game on James Caruso. Kevin Hoover scored first for the Cougars, then the Green Wave scored 4 of the next 5 goals to end the first period. Mark Yetter had the only other Cougar goal in the first period.
“Montgomery was as good an offensive unit we have seen all year,” Ruebling said. “Having not seen them before, I think our guys were a little surprised by their ability. We really had to bear down and take care of business on the defensive side of the field.” There were times in the second and third period when the Green Wave defense was tested. The Cougars scored three goals in a 4 minute and 38 second span to make the game 7-5. The Green Wave scored the next three goals before the Cougars scored again. The Cougars scored their final two goals in a 93 second span in the third period, before the Green Wave scored the final 7 goals of the game.
Delbarton will play Mountain Lakes High School in the T of C Final at Rutgers. Mountain Lakes beat Hunterdon Central 9-5 in the other semifinal game at Kean University on Wednesday. Mountain Lakes and Delbarton are very familiar with one another. They have already played this season at Delbarton. And Delbarton won the game 7-1. “It is going to be an all out war,” Ruebling said. “You will see two fine teams bringing their A game and giving their all. It promises to be another classic.”
The Green Wave are focused on two things on Saturday. They want to win the T of C Final. And they want to go undefeated on the season, becoming the first team in school history to go undefeated in a season. “Being undefeated has been an unrealized goal of ours for several years now,” Ruebling said. “It also would be the first time we have achieved this feat in the history of our program. However, winning the championship is the main objective.”
Commentary by Anthony Lawrence Caruso, III
Photos by Kent Manno. You can view more photos from the game by clicking here
