By Anthony Caruso III
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 6/1/16
MARLTON, N.J. – It was one of those heartbreaking losses that left Moorestown’s boys’ team with a difficult ending to a great season.
Ryan Antonelle scored with 4.3 seconds to play, lifting West Morris Central to an 8-7 win over the Quakers today in the New Jersey Group 3 championship at Cherokee High.
West Morris 919-5) advances to the Tournament of Champions. Moorestown, the South Jersey champion, closes at 18-4.
“I took the ball from Cooper and I just shot it,” Antonelle said. “I saw it go in the net and that was it. We had no worries after that. I just wanted to let it go because there was only a few seconds left. It felt great to see the ball go in the net.”
West Morris Central tied it, 7-7, when Bryan Pruss scored his third goal of the game to tie it at 7-7 with 4:20 to play.
Moorestown’s Bryan Wright, who had four goals and hit 100 for his career, had the Quakers’ lone two second-half goals.
“It’s a heart-breaker,” Moorestown head coach Baron Wallenhurst said. “It’s a tough one for the guys…”
Cooper Sloan and Pruss scored the other four goals for the Wolfpack in the second half. They outscored the Quakers 6-2 in that session.
The Quakers led 5-2 in the first half. They jumped out to a 4-0 lead, before Garrett Izzo scored. Kyle Skurchak followed to cut the lead to 4-2, before Will Corbi scored for fifth goal.
“It was a great effort by the guys,” West morris Central head coach Rob Goodwin said. “When we were down, I went over with them what we wanted to do. I wanted to try to slow down (Wright), but ultimately, none of that made any difference. My staff told the kids that they had to put in four quarters and don’t give up.”
Moorestown
Will Corbi 2 goals
Bryan Wright 4 goals, 1 assist
Quinn Willis 1 assist
Ross Lazarus 2 assists
Frankie Labetti 1 goal
Liam Peck 9 saves
West Morris Central
Garrett Izzo 1 goal, 1 assist
Kyle Skurchak 1 goal
Cooper Sloan 2 goals, 3 assists
Bryan Pruss 3 goals, 1 assist
Ryan Antonelle 1 goal, 1 assist
Joe Reilly 5 saves
