On Saturday, May 20th, the Raiders Boys Lacrosse Team won against Mendham and will be heading to the sectional semifinals of the North Jersey, Group 3 state tournament. Not only is the team honorable for going to the semifinals, but the Raiders reached the semis for only the second time in history and since 2013.
Throughout the first 22 minutes of the game, the Raiders were on a roll with a 5-0 score, not allowing Mendham to ruin the winning streak. Senior Riley Guma made a total of 5 saves out of 11 throughout the first two quarters. Senior David Walker lost a single faceoff during the first half but controlled the rest and won the other faceoffs, being a strong midfielder.
Defenders Ryan Johnson, Jake Kloepfer, Anthony magnotta and Vinny Ruzek helped Guma defend to Mendham during the game and without the help from them, the win wouldn’t have been possible. The game couldn’t have been a win without the defenders, making sure no scores were able to reach Guma’s goal.
Richard Nardone, Tyler Malaussena, Jack Brady and Noah Costanzo all made scores during the game. Besides these four scores, Robert Gordon scored a total of 4 scores helping the team win the game.
Next for the Raiders is the big game against Summit, which had moved up a group as of last year. Summit is known to be one of the most competitive teams in the state meaning that Scotch Plains will have to prepare for this game with sleep, tons of energy and practice beforehand.
By far, this game will be one of the most challenging games the Raiders will have to compete in and will hopefully be another winner. According to nj.com, the Raiders have high hopes in another win and don’t have a doubt in their minds that they won’t win another match. Stay tuned to see what happens on Wednesday at Summit High School when the sectional semifinals take place!