Page 14
The Westfield Leader and The Scotch Plains – Fanwood TIMES
Thursday, April 6, 2017
A WATCHUNG COMMUNICATIONS, INC. PUBLICATION
NARDONE, GORDON NET 3 GOALS EACH; CR’S FITCH 2
Raiders Stop Cougars, 13-3,
In Cole’s Cup Boys Lacrosse
By ALEX LOWE
Specially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times
David B. Corbin for The Westfield Leader and The Times
BLUE DEVIL BOYS TENNIS TEAM...Pictured, left to right, are: kneeling; Sean Pass, Alex Prystupa and Noah Reich;
standing, Brad Hornbeck, Matt Su, Jacob Tananbaum, Rob Faktor, Damien Ruparel, Dave Sprung and Jai Sharma. Missing
are Owen Bartok and Matt Bartok.
RUPAREL, REICH, OWEN BARTOK ARE 1-2-3 SINGLES
Blue Devil Boys to Soon Gage
Where They Belong in Tennis
By DAVID B. CORBIN
Specially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times
Very little time will elapse before
the Westfield High School tennis boys
find out where they stand among the
top teams in the state. But first the
Blue Devils will have found out how
they stand with their conference and
county opponents with an opening
match against Summit that was scheduled for April 3.
“Summit is probably our biggest
competitor in the conference and the
county. The last couple of years we
start with them That’s been pretty
interesting but this is the way I design
it,” Blue Devil Head Coach George
Kapner said.
After the Morristown match on
April 5, the Blue Devils travel to
Scotch Plains-Fanwood today at 4
p.m. then face Bridgewater-Raritan
tomorrow before competing in the
“big show” at Delbarton this Saturday and Sunday.
“Also we go to Morristown, we
have Scotch Plains then over the weekend we go to the Brian Bennett Me-
morial Tournament at Delbarton
where we see a dozen of the best
teams in the state. We really get a
chance to gage where we belong.
Maybe they get a chance to gage
where they belong. Hopefully the
weather holds. We’ve had a rough
March, so that’s where we are a little
behind, injuries, the snow and rain,”
Coach Kapner said.
The Blue Devils do have good reason to be hopeful, however. Last year
the Blue Devils swept all five flights
to win their 12th straight Union County
Tournament crown. After wining the
Group 4 sectional title, the Blue Devils went on to capture the Group 4
crown after jolting No. 2 ranked
Montgomery, 4-1, to compete in the
Tournament of Champions where they
lost to West Windsor-Plainsboro
South, 3-2, to finish with a 22-4 record,
upping Kapner’s boys tennis record
to 575-125.
First singles player Tyler Roth has
graduated but junior Damien Ruparel
has bumped up a notch to that slot and
senior Noah Reich will return to sec-
ond singles.
“Very excited! Great team! Yes, we
lost Tyler but Damien has grown over
the last two years and is a legitimate
number one in the state. Noah has
kind of bounced around the singles
his entire career. He was second
singles as a freshman, first singles as
a sophomore and third singles last
year coming back from an injury. Now
he’s second singles,” Coach Kapner
explained.
Senior Owen Bartok, who played
first doubles with his brother last year,
will occupy third singles.
“Owen is at third singles and Owen
was third singles his freshman year
and sophomore year then we were so
good last year, he got bounced down
to doubles. But he’s back at third
singles. We have three very experienced top singles players, as good a
singles lineup as there is in the state,”
Coach Kapner said.
Because of the weather conditions
and an injury to sophomore Matt
Bartok the only experienced starter
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CONTINUED ON PAGE 16
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The Scotch Plains-Fanwood High
School boys lacrosse team took down
rival Cranford, 13-3, in the season
opener for both teams on March 29 at
Wexler Field in Scotch Plains. Richie
Nardone and Robert Gordon each
scored three goals to lead the Raider
cause. Goaltender Riley Guma recorded 14 saves, while playing stellar
defense between the pipes.
Connor Fitch potted two goals to
lead the Cranford effort. Phil Marotta
came up with 13 saves for the Cougars. The two NJILL Bianchi Division foes enter the season with different expectations. Cranford comes in
with a large number of new players as
they try to replace heavy graduation
losses. Scotch Plains-Fanwood on the
other hand, is expected to contend not
only for the division but also should
be one of the top teams in the county.
“I don’t know what they would tell
you,” said Cranford Head Coach Al
Reinoso. “But I think Scotch Plains
has one of the best teams they’ve had
in years. I was very impressed with
their defensive intensity and the play
of their goalie. They, perhaps along
with Bernards, look like the team to
beat in the division.”
Scotch Plains-Fanwood, a county
semifinalist that advanced to the state
quarterfinal round last season, wasted
little time in getting after the Cougars.
The Raiders scored two quick goals
in the first two minutes to take a 2-0
lead. Junior Jack Brady swooped in
from behind the net to deliver the first
point at the 10:24 mark then 18 seconds later Gordon scored in a one-onone situation for the second goal.
Cranford answered when Fitch
scored the first of his two goals with
6:34 to play in the opening quarter.
The Raiders took a 2-1 lead into the
second quarter then broke the game
open, outscoring Cranford, 5-0, in the
period. Nardone scored twice in the
period as did Gordon with Alex Osliso
potting a goal in the final minute to
make it 7-1 at the intermission.
Dan Allen helped pull the Cougars
to within five, making it 7-2 when he
scored from in front of the net at the
7:30 mark in the third quarter. But the
Raiders closed out the quarter with
goals by Nardone, Anthony Porter
and Noah Costanza to make it 10-2.
“I was disappointed that we did not
play better today,” said Coach
Reinoso. “We had many opportunities in the first half that we just did not
take advantage of. We are trying to be
realistic in our expectations right now.
We did graduate our entire defense
and half of our midfield. Weather has
also been a factor in that we haven’t
really had the opportunity to get our
JV players battle ready. Still we have
to move forward and play better. I’m
hoping we have something to say about
the division before all is said and
done.”
In the fourth quarter the Raiders
added to the lead on goals by Costanza,
Tyler Malauseena and Aiden Guma.
Fitch scored from up top to give
Cranford its final goal. All things considered it was an impressive debut for
the Raiders.
“We come into the season feeling
like we can beat anyone,” said
goaltender Riley Guma. “We are not
very different personnel wise from
last year and the experience return
definitely helps us.”
Costanza had two goals for Scotch
Plains-Fanwood, while Porter and
Brady each had a goal and added two
assists. Osislo, Malauseena and Aiden
Guma each scored goals for the Raiders. David Walker picked up nine
ground balls for the winners. Fitch
finished with six ground balls and
Jack Callan had four.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 16
Alex Lowe for The Westfield Leader and The Times
COLE’S CUP WINNERS...The Raider boys lacrosse team won the Cole’s Cup with a 13-3 victory over the Cranford Cougars
in Scotch Plains on March 29.
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