Boys Lacrosse: Top-seeded Rumson-Fair Haven cruises past Holmdel to set up rematch with Shore in SCT semifinals

RUMSON — Patience, quick passing and a concise offensive strategy are essential to avoiding the frustration that a zone defense can throw at teams. So when Rumson-Fair Haven won the opening face-off but couldn’t find an opening to attack after three minutes had elapsed, it was time to go to plan B.

An early timeout to switch things up paid immediate dividends as the top-seeded Bulldogs scored six goals in the final seven minutes of the first quarter on their way to a dominant 15-6 win over 8th-seeded Holmdel in the quarterfinals of the Shore Conference Tournament on Thursday night at Borden Stadium.

“We put in a different offense where it’s more cutting and not really an initiative to go to the goal,” senior midfielder Grayson Goldin said. ‘It will work against certain teams but it wasn’t working against them, so, yeah, after about three minutes of nothing we knew we had to change it up.”

Rumson kept the ball hot to dissect Holmdel’s zone, spinning passes with authority and precision, especially in the third quarter when the Bulldogs (11-8) scored seven straight goals to take a 14-2 lead into the fourth quarter. Six different players scored goals, seven players recorded multi-point games, and assists were credited on 13 of their 15 goals. It was a complete performance for a talented team that is trending in the right direction during the playoffs after an up-and-down regular season.

“It’s great having a bunch of guys on the stat sheet,” junior attackman Luke Lydon said. “We really locked in on film this week, and since our down stretch we’ve really focused on that. I think that’s a big reason for our success lately.”

“A big part of our team is being in the film room and knowing what we’re playing against,” Goldin said. “We see the zone and we know ball movement is key. We moved it around and got our looks.”

Lydon delivered a game-high six points with four goals and two assists, freshman attackman Teddy Whitehouse had a hat trick plus two assists, and junior midfielder Joseph Whitehouse also recorded a hat trick. Sophomore attackman Arthur Bowen had his best high school game with two goals and two assists and Goldin finished with two goals and one assist. Freshman Liam Haggerty added a goal and an assist and sophomore LSM John Paik chipped in with two assists on transition goals.

After winning three games in a row from April 21-24, Rumson then dropped three in a row to New Canaan (CT), Summit and Bridgewater-Raritan. A 10-8 comeback win over Manasquan on May 6 was a huge victory on several fronts, and the Bulldogs have backed that up with dominant wins over Haddonfield and Holmdel. They look like a team beginning to round into form at the season’s most critical juncture.

“I think we’re hitting our stride at the perfect time,” Lydon said. “We have a big one Saturday against a team that really got us at the worst of our worst, so we’re looking forward to that game to avenge that loss and then hopefully have a big one Monday.”

On Saturday afternoon, Rumson will host 4th-seeded Shore Regional in the SCT semifinals. The winner will face either Manasquan or CBA in Monday’s championship game. A month ago, Shore stunned Rumson, 10-8, for their first win over the Bulldogs in program history. It’s rare for the No. 1 seed to have a chip on its shoulder, but that will be the case when the two rivals square off for a second time this season.

“We went into that game a little cocky and that’s when that will happen to you,” Goldin said. “Ever since the end of that game we’ve been looking for a rematch, so we’re blessed to be able to play then again.”

“We know how it feels to lose so we’re using that more as motivation rather than forgetting about it. Going into Saturday, we lost to them so we’re going to have a chip on our shoulder and hopefully take it to them.”