Cedar Creek boys lacrosse holds off late Atlantic City rally to pick up first win of season

By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Publisher ATLANTIC CITY — For a second-year boys lacrosse program, wins aren’t easy to come by, even when they are against a team that also is in its second season. Cedar Creek took a 5-3 lead in the second half, then extended that lead to 8-5 before holding off a furious rally by Atlantic City to escape with an 8-7 victory, the Pirates’ first of the season. “The first game, we kind of got our butts handed to us. Ocean City is a really good team,” said Cedar Creek senior defenseman Ryan McMahon. “This time, we both started last year so it was more of an even match. It felt really good, because this is our first year in the CAL, officially, so it’s good to know that we can compete with the other teams.” Atlantic City’s Alan Lopez tries to maintain control and work his way through the defense of Cedar Creek’s Zachary Kondrach, behind, and Brian Devinney during Cedar Creek’s 8-7 win over the Vikings on Monday. (Glory Days Magazine photos/Dave O’Sullivan) “It was good. Hopefully we can get a lot more this year. There’s not too much to complain about, it’s all about the win in the end,” said junior attacker Zachary Kondrach. “There are some things we need to work on, but all-in-all, it was a good game.” Cedar Creek got its first five goals from five different players, as Wade Clegg started the scoring and was followed by Kyle Broecker, McMahon, Matt Sooy and Brian Devinney. Atlantic City kept it close, though, with a goal from Val Lemoniotis and a pair of scores from James Drew. A goal by Broecker pushed the Pirates’ lead to 6-3, and Cedar Creek (1-1) eventually built an 8-5 lead on a pair of goals by Ezequiel Chaparro. Atlantic City (0-2) turned up the head in the last four minutes, as Jarret Entress scored a pair of goals to trim the lead to 8-7. The Pirates’ defense held off several attacks by the Vikings in the final two minutes to secure the win. McMahon and Kondrach said it was nice to get an early win, but know the Pirates still have a lot of improving to do if they hope to be competitive with some of the more established teams in the area. “We’ve definitely improved on passing and catching this year,” McMahon said. “Last year, it was a lot of kids’ first year playing, so this year we are lot better so far.” “It’s definitely great (to get an early) win, and hopefully we can get another win the second time we play them,” said Kondrach. Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays [adsense]