SPORTS

Old Bridge boys lacrosse wins first GMC Tournament title since 2013

Angel Ospina
@AngelDOspina
The Old Bridge boys lacrosse team celebrates winning the GMC Tournament final on Monday, May 15, 2017.

EAST BRUNSWICK – Shortly after goalkeeper Thomas Francy of the Old Bridge High School boys lacrosse team recorded his 14th and final save of the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament final on Monday night at East Brunswick, the senior made a gutsy decision.

With less than two minutes remaining in double overtime against perennial powerhouse St. Joseph (9-7), Francy took matters into his own hands as he left the crease sprinting.

Rather than the usual outlet pass after a save, Francy took the ball well beyond the midfield line. With several defenders caught off guard by the offensive-minded goalkeeper, Francy was able to lob a pass to his cutting teammate Patrick Rosiak, who scored to clinch the program's first county title since 2013 with an 8-7 victory over the third-seeded Falcons.

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“Since playing the attack every other year, I have an offensive mindset,” Francy said. “I saw nobody in front of me, so I just went to the cage and Patrick Rosiak made a hell of a cut. I passed it to him and he finished.”

The county final ended with the fourth-seeded Old Bridge bench storming the field, but just two minutes prior to the celebration, the mood on the Knights' bench was grim as Micah Trawick, one of the team's best offensive weapons, was disqualified for an illegal stick a minute into the second overtime period.

“When the referee said the stick was illegal my heart broke,” Rosiak said. “That was probably the worst feeling of the game. I thought we were going to lose right there and then, but there were other times tonight I thought we were going to lose.”

The entire county final was a roller coaster of emotions for both programs as the two GMC heavyweights traded blows from the opening whistle with neither team flinching.

The Falcons got on the board first as senior Max Bischoff entered the crease from behind the cage, faked the pass and rocketed the ball past the keeper to put St. Joseph up 1-0 with 8:01 remaining in the first quarter. The lead was short-lived as Jack Stern evened the score at 1-1 just 88 seconds later.

Trawick gave the Knights (12-4) their first lead with his first of three goals of the evening to give Old Bridge a 2-1 lead with 4:51 remaining in the first. Junior Garrett Klurman responded for the Falcons before the end of the first quarter with a goal after a series of fakes before an underhand shot from just outside the crease to tie the game at 2-2.

“They came to play and I knew their offense was good,” Old Bridge coach Andrew Borriello said. “We held strong, they went up and we went up. We just never quit.”

Both teams would score once in the second quarter to leave the game all squared up at 3-3 at the half. In the third quarter, Old Bridge wasted no time getting on the board as Trawick scored 19 seconds into the second half.

This time, it was the Falcons that would respond with two goals of their own to take a 5-4 lead heading into the final 12 minutes of regulation.

In the fourth, Old Bridge would score two goals in 1:57 to take a 6-5 lead, but whenever it seemed the Knights had the Falcons figured out, the experienced Falcons would have an answer. Klurman would record his third goal with 7:49 remaining in regulation to tie the game at 6-6 for the Falcons.

Coming into the matchup, the Knights knew they would have their hands full as St. Joseph has been crowned county champs seven times in the last nine years.

Earlier this season, the two teams met in another great matchup where St. Joseph came out victorious with a 9-7 win. Borriello used that loss as motivation heading into Monday night’s final.

“Last time we played them we felt we focused on the score,” Borriello said. “This time, we wanted to focus on the effort.”

The score did not phase the Knights on Monday as they took a 7-6 lead with less than four minutes remaining in regulation. But the Falcons were able to force overtime after senior Dillon Snee scored the equalizer with a shot that went between the legs of Francy with 3:56 left in the fourth.

In the first overtime period, Bischoff had an opportunity to clinch the title for St. Joseph when Francy decided to make an attempt to intercept a long pass near the crease. Francy whiffed on the attempt as Bischoff used his taller frame to grab the ball. With the net wide open, Bischoff shot the ball from inside the crease, but shot the potential game-winner wide left with 23 seconds remaining.

“When I knew he caught the ball and Francy came out the net I was like, ‘Oh no this is it,’ but when he missed and we got the ball back I was thanking God,” Rosiak said.

Despite, an open-net opportunity and their lead scorer for the game being disqualified, the Knights still found a way to clinch the county title. All it took was a gutsy player willing to put it all on the line.

“The fact that he came out of the net in overtime is crazy. If I was the coach I would have been mad he was running out at this point,” Rosiak said. "The fact that he made the play, he is just an amazing player, he is an amazing friend, he’s like a brother to me.”