Pingry boys lacrosse wins third-straight Non-Public B title

PENNINGTON - The top-seeded Pingry School boys lacrosse team made a triumphant return to the Tournament of Champions on Wednesday. 

Pingry (13-6) defeated third-seeded Bishop Eustace 11-1 to win the NJSIAA Non-Public B title for the third straight year and earn a berth in the Tournament of Champions. 

In 2015, Pingry fell to Bridgewater-Raritan in the ToC semifinals. Last year, the Big Blue stunned Bridgewater-Raritan in the semifinals to advance to the final for the first time in program history. Unfortunately, Pingry was dealt a stinging 13-4 loss at the hands of Delbarton, 

This time around, the Big Blue is confident the experience it gained last year will help in its quest to claim the ToC crown. 

"It helps tremendously, we've got the experience, I've been there the past two years, so has George (Enman)," said Pingry's Jake Moss, who finished with a hat trick and one assist. "We know what it's about, we know how to win in it and we know our game plan, and we're ready to go."

"When you have guys on the squad who have been there before, the nerve part is kind of out of the way and you can just play your game," Enman added. 

On Wednesday, Pingry came out firing on all cylinders and led 7-1 at the half, then outscored the Crusaders 4-0 in the second half en route to the 11-1 final.  The loss snapped an eight-game win streak for Bishop Eustace (16-4), while Pingry won its sixth-straight game. 

"I knew they were rolling in hot so we had to bring our A-game," Moss said. "Our defense has been aggressive all year, they run a tight zone, it's fight for the person next to you, no one got beat one on one, we just played good sound defense."

Enman finished with a hat trick and two assists, and Drew Brosie added two goals and one assist. Ben Peacock, Kalman Kraham and Brett Zanelli also scored. In goal, David Metzger and Frankie Dillon combined for five saves. 

"We definitely graduated a lot of talent last year, it's been different this year," Moss said. "Last we had a really high-powered offense, this year it's kind of more of an all-around game. Our defense is very good, our face off guy Jamie Zusi, shout out to him, he's tremendous, we couldn't do it without him, great goalie plays, overall our whole team has been great this year, more of a well-rounded game this year."

The Tournament of Champions begins Saturday at Bridgewater-Raritan, with the semifinals slated for June 7 and the final  June 10. Both the semifinals and final will be played at Kean University. 

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