Casey laxers sink Mariners
by ED COLLINS, The Courier, May 8
Posted:05/13/08

This season, Red Bank Catholic has played a lot of tough teams in likes of cross-town rivals Red Bank Regional and Rumson-Fair Haven, not to mention Manasquan. All those teams just happen to play with the Caseys in the Class A Central. But on Tuesday afternoon, May 6, RBC hosted Class A South champion Toms River North. The Caseys proved to be no match for the Mariners after a 21-8 blowout at Dorbrook Park in Colts Neck.

“We’ve played pretty well during the season,” RBC head coach Ryan Eichner said. “[Toms River North] are division champions and we had to be ready for them. We had a intense day of practice yesterday and it continued on today.”

The two teams exchanged goals early in the first quarter. Casey attackman Pete Guastella and Toms River North midfielder Ryan O’Donnell each netted themselves unassisted goals.

For the next few minutes, defense on both ends kept the game tied at 1-1, especially from RBC. Defensemen Nolan Vill, Kyle Williams, Kevin Serkin, Justin Gienkas and Luke Kinzel helped keep the ball away from goalie Matt Ryan.

But attackman Tucker Hawley helped the Caseys take a two-goal lead. First, he found fellow attackman Kevin Whitlock midway toward the quarter. A little over a minute later, he fired a shot past Mariner goalie Tim Wolcott for a 3-1 lead.

After O’Donnell brought Toms River North within a goal, RBC started to build its lead up with three unanswered goals. Middie Brandon Weigand and Guastella scored 15 seconds apart. Two minutes later, Guastella scored his second goal of the match.

The Mariners scored their third goal while being a man up. That’s because Williams was penalized for pushing and had to serve 30 seconds in the penalty box. Attackman Brendan Hirtes received a feed from O’Donnell for a goal with 13 seconds left in the first quarter.

Both clubs scored two goals reach during a low scoring second quarter. Hawley and middie Joe Tardiff tallied for the Caseys with midfielder Brendan Callaghan assisting on both of them. Brothers Brendan and Sean Hirtes reached the back of the net for Toms River North. RBC went into the halftime break with an 8-5 lead.

The second half belonged to the Caseys. In the third quarter, they scored six consecutive goals. Guastella netted to goals and added an assist. Whitlock scored three straight goals and assisted on another. Hawley’s tally was sandwiched by Guastella and Whitlock’s scoring flurry.

“We came out firing because [Eichner] told us they [Toms River North] had just won their division,” said Whitlock, who scored five times and added four assists. “We controlled the ball today and attacked them.”

In the fourth quarter, RBC added seven more goals, including six straight that lasted all the way until the end of the game. Callaghan and Guastella each scored twice, while Hawley, and middies Mike Byrnes and Luke McCarthy both scored their only goals of the match. Guastella scored a game-high six goals and added an assist.

The Caseys will be among three area clubs that are high seeds at the upcoming Shore Conference Tournament. RBC received the second seed, while Christian Brothers Academy got the top seed and Red Bank Regional was awarded the fourth seed.

“Any of those top teams can win it this year,” said Eichner. “We were fortunate to get [the No. 2] seed. We’re going to have to play our best lacrosse of the year to make some noise in the tournament.”   
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