Beyond the stats: Breakdown of Christian Brothers lacrosse's road to SCT championship game

RUMSON — The Christian Brothers Academy lacrosse team was on the wrong side of a Rumson-Fair Haven comeback win earlier in the season and the Colts didn't forget that game.

CBA got revenge and more Thursday evening in an 8-6 victory over Rumson to advance to the Shore Conference Tournament finals. Rumson-Fair Haven was also the team that knocked CBA out of the SCT the last two years.

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So when the Colts were down at halftime 4-3, they were motivated.

“Halftime speech was ‘when we came here earlier in the year we were up and they were down,’” said CBA attackman Ryan Martin. “They came out firing, we had that same mentality, we knew we had to come out strong, we knew that first goal was important.”

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After going through the adversity of tasting defeat earlier in the season, but still knowing that they’re one of the top teams in the conference, CBA was confident they’d end up in the finals. After the game, players were saying "one more game" and "we expected this."

“That was our theme all week,” said CBA head coach Dave Santos. "Let’s believe in each other because we can win this conference tournament and that came into fruition.”

What it means

No. 3 CBA will head to the Shore Conference Tournament Championship to face top-seeded Manasquan. The last time the Colts got to the SCT finals was in 2019 when they lost to the Warriors 12-7. Manasquan has won the last five games between the teams. CBA eliminating Rumson-Fair Haven also means that the Bulldogs won’t be able to complete a four-peat.

Key moment

Martin, a senior heading to Villanova University, was held scoreless in the first half until he let loose with a hat trick in which all his goals came in the third quarter. On his third goal which came on a fast break, he turned to the Rumson-Fair Haven fans and bowed. He scored three of the next four goals for CBA out the second half to give them the first lead of the game.

“That was just kind of the heat of the moment,” said Martin. "I finished looking at the student section, at the bench, they’re a rowdy group, all of the emotions coming through, got a good lead, feeling good.”

“They held him in check for the the first half but a good player like that is eventually going to find space and Ryan capitalizes anytime he gets space,” said Santos.

Unsung hero

Freshman and face-off specialist John Little became dominant in the second half and played a key part in limiting the Bulldogs time of possession. He won 58% of the face-offs and got the respect from his teammates and coaches.

“He’s phenomenal, kept the momentum our way, got us the ball so props to him,” said Martin.

“We asked him to make sure we got possessions, we knew the more possessions we have the better our chances were. We wanted to limit their possessions because they’re very talented offensively, and he stepped it up in the second half,” said Santos.

They said it

Santos on playing Manasquan next: “We played them, lost 7-6 on a late goal, so I think we match up well against them, right now we’re playing pretty well and I like our chances.”

Luke Krebs on the team effort: “We knew what we needed to do, we knew if everybody did their job we’d come out on top. Our offense and our face-off guy John Little, he had some regrets last game and he proved himself this game. Our defense, Quinn Kelly, Manoli (Paragioudakis)...and Brandon Desena stepped up and did his job.”

Quinn Kelly on bouncing back: I would say after last game we were definitely bummed, we blew like an 8-3 lead, we were all hurting but we knew like maybe it's a blessing in disguise, maybe it'll help us get to where we are today.

What’s Next

The SCT final will be held Monday 6 p.m. at Monmouth University. The girls final to open the doubleheader will be played at 3 p.m. between Trinity Hall and Rumson-Fair Haven.

Box Score

CBA

Ryan Martin: 3 goals

Cameron D’Alterio: 1 goal

Jack Santos: 2 goals

James Crowley: 1 goal

Hunter Kilpatrick: 1 goal

Brandon Desena: 2 saves

Rumson-Fair Haven

Jake Cahill: 1 goal

Andy Croddick: 1 goal

Brody Page: 1 goal

Frank Argilagos: 1 goal

Grayson Goldin: 1 goal

Leo Passalaqua: 1 goal

Seamus Gorman: 5 saves

Shots on goal

CBA: 16

R-FH: 9

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Christian Brothers boys lacrosse upends Rumson in Shore Conference