RFH Boys Lax Ends Season with Loss to Somerville in South Jersey State Final

By Jim Rosa

 

 RUMSON – Rumson-Fair Haven boys lacrosse has been one of the more dominant teams in the state over the last couple of years. The Bulldogs, who have won the last two South Jersey Group 2 finals, were in search of their third straight title Saturday afternoon against Somerville.

 

After defeating Allentown, 16-6, in the section semifinals, the top-seeded Bulldogs hosted the state sectional final at RFH’s Borden Stadium. It was there, however, that second-seeded Somerville upset the Bulldogs by a score of 8-2. Despite the loss, the Bulldogs put together a complete and fulfilling season, securing yet another winning season with a record of 14-10. 

One of the tall tasks for Rumson was trying to figure out Somerville goalie Evan Barr, who along with the Somerville defense, shut out the Bulldogs for the entire first half. Altogether, Barr finished the game with 16 saves, many of which could be classified as highlight plays. 

 

Despite coming into the game with confidence, the Bulldogs soon found themselves staring at a 3-0 deficit. With Somerville taking long possessions and getting good shots on net, it was pivotal for RFH to find a way to get on the board. Soon after facing this deficit, the Bulldogs were in fact able to connect. Drew Shaw set up Sam Mannino with the first score of the game, cutting the Somerville lead to 3-1. Somerville eventually took a 4-1 lead before Rumson’s Shaw connected on net to score the Bulldogs’ second goal of the game. While it seemed that Rumson might have been able to capture some momentum at this point, Somerville ensured that RFH would not score again. On the offensive side, the Pioneers found a way to consistently score for the remainder of the game, ultimately finding the back of the net four more times.

 

“We beat them last year on our home field and we came out and didn’t want to take them for granted. However, they were able to finish better and we are a young team and we can learn from this in order to come back next year and hopefully recapture the trophy,” said RFH junior attacker Rowan Goldin about what his team learned from the loss after defeating the Pioneers last year on their home turf. 

As a young team, RFH did not back down from any teams, not only in the Shore Conference or in New Jersey, but out of state as well. This is something that Goldin felt really helped his team see different types of competition throughout the season. 

 

“We book a hard schedule year in and year out because we want that experience playing these better teams and you learned from that what works and what doesn’t work against the better teams. We learn especially against these good teams that you can’t force anything and that you have to slow the game down. Some teams like to play fast and when that happens, you have to be able to adjust and play fast as well,” he said. 

 

Rowan, the team’s second-leading scorer, explained that despite being the number one seed in this year’s state tournament, the pressure is always on when there are teams in their path that they do not normally see.

 

“One of the things that helped us get this far is not going over film the night before, but being prepared days in advance to play these teams that we do not normally see. For the most part I think that it worked out pretty well for us against the teams that we have played in the tournament. It didn’t go our way in this game but they definitely came out and earned it; we did not give it to them,” Goldin said.

With the season now ended, Goldin and his team will turn their focus to preparing for next season and hopefully another run to a state title game. 

 

“Lacrosse is one of the tighter groups sports-wise at RFH and I think that we just need to stick together going further. This offseason, it’s going to be important for us to get in as much practice as we can as players since we can’t have formal practices. I am very hopeful for next year with this group of guys. Everyone is very good friends and we all get along. With a lot of skill returning I am very excited to see what we will accomplish next year,” he said. 

 

One of the things that has certainly stood out for RFH is their passion for the game.

 

 “This sport means everything here at RFH. We can thank our alum for that. They put a name to our program. I mean you can see it today at the game if you looked at the sideline we had people here from all years past and our seniors from two years ago were here watching. With everyone being friends, we are all here to support one another and everyone comes back to support year in and year out. It is honestly so awesome to see all of them. Some people will come up to me who graduated four years ago say, ‘hey you probably don’t know who I am but I know who you are,’” and it’s great to have that support from the alumni,” Goldin continued. 

 

“The close knit group was definitely the main strength of our team this year. Our stick skills also got better as the season went on. As far as our weaknesses, coming out a bit slow in games is one of them. Today we were a bit nervous before the game. Hopefully next season there will be all positive things to say as we take from this experience today,” Goldin concluded. 

With plenty of sophomores and juniors such as Goldin, RFH lacrosse looks to be in good hands as they aim to continue a winning tradition in 2020.