Boys lacrosse: Scotch Plains-Fanwood falls in North Group III

SCOTCH PLAINS - The Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School boys lacrosse team saw its season come to an end Saturday with a 10-9 loss to Princeton in the NJSIAA North Group III Tournament.

Fifth-seeded Princeton (12-4) advanced to the North Group III semifinals after scoring three goals in the final 5:26 to pull out the win. The fourth-seeded Raiders end their season at 13-6 and as Union County Tournament semifinalists.

"We knew if we didn't play a complete game they would beat us, they're a good team. The first quarter was big, they were up 3-0 and we had a lot of chances, and I think we didn't finish our chances in that first quarter, and they did," Scotch Plains-Fanwood coach Nick Miceli said. "We had a couple of defensive breakdowns, but we battled back. We were down three, came back, down two at halftime, and we came up, and we took the lead going into the fourth quarter. Then they just came out and made some plays in the fourth quarter, again our guys, we battled back, and we just couldn't catch up."

Scotch Plains-Fanwood, which trailed 3-0 after the first quarter and 4-2 at the half, battled back in the third quarter. Down 5-2 with 7:36 remaining, the Raiders scored three-straight on goals from David Walker, Richie Nardone and Robert Gordon to tie the game 5-5 with 5:57 left.

Johnny Lopez-Ona scored his third goal of the day to put Princeton ahead 6-5 with 3:31 to play, and a minute later Gordon scored his second of the afternoon to retie the game at 6. Jordan Belford scored on an assist from Cooper Heisey at the buzzer to put the Raiders ahead 7-6 after three quarters.

"This is a resilient group, we've said that the whole year," Miceli said. "We've had some games against New Providence down 3-0, St. Peter's we were down 6-0, they're a resilient group and I told them, I don't care if we go down 10 goals, you guys just keep battling, and it's a testament to them and all the work they put in."

The Tigers opened the fourth quarter with three-straight goals to take a 9-7 lead with 4:36 to play. Gordon scored his fourth goal with 4:01 remaining to pull the Raiders to within 9-8, but Lopez-Ona scored with 2:47 left for a 10-8 Princeton lead.

With 1:01 remaining Nardone scored on an assist from Joe Griffith for the 10-9 final. The Raiders maintained possession for the final minute but the Princeton defense denied the equalizer.

"We had a big bounce back year for us," Miceli said. "Last year wasn't really a great year, this is a huge year. It's upsetting for the seniors who are moving on but they put the program back in the right direction, we went from a six-win team to a 13-win team, which is huge."

Walker won 17-of-21 faceoffs for Scotch Plains-Fanwood.

Staff Writer Lauren Knego: lknego@gannettnj.com; on Twitter: @laurenknego

Princeton 10, Scotch Plains-Fanwood 9

GOALS: (SPF) Gordon 3, Walker 2, Nardone 2, Nizolak, Belford; (P) Lopez-Ona 4, Halliday, L. Duarte, M. Duarte, Helstrom, Smith, McDonald; ASSISTS: (SPF) Gordon, Brady, Heisey, Griffith; (P) Helstrom 3, Lopez-Ona 2; SAVES: (SPF) Duffy 4; (P) Godefroy 11.