By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Publisher OCEAN CITY — A few years ago, the Ocean City High School boys lacrosse team was one of those squads other teams in the Cape-Atlantic League could see on the schedule and pencil in a win against the Red Raiders. Things are a lot different in 2015. The Red Raiders broke a 2-2 tie with a 3-goal spurt in the third quarter, and sophomore goalie Mark Kolmer made the lead stand up with a 14-save performance in Ocean City’s 5-4 win over Egg Harbor Township on Friday at the Tennessee Avenue Fields. Ocean City improved to 15-3 overall and clinched at least a share of the league title. Oakcrest can claim a share of the title if it can beat Absegami on Monday. A win by the Braves would give Ocean City sole possession of the league championship. “I told them at the end of the game that I’m at a loss for words, and usually I’m the type of coach where (my assistants) are saying to wrap it up, that I’m talking too much,” said Ocean City coach Joe LaTorre. “Right now, I’m speechless. To see the jump (the seniors) have taken from their freshman year to their senior year is remarkable. My hat is off to all the players, all the parents, all the coaches, everyone in this community — the field maintenance guys — who helped this dream come true for them. It wasn’t one person, it wasn’t one coach, one parent or one player.” 
Ocean City goalie Mark Kolmer reaches to make a save on a shot by Egg Harbor Township’s Ryan King during the Red Raiders’ 5-4 win over the Eagles on Friday. (Glory Days Magazine photos/Dave O’Sullivan) “We’ve been waiting for this since freshman year. We’ve come a long way. I think we won maybe two games our freshman year, so it means a lot just to look back on it and see how much we have progressed throughout the years,” said attacker Owen Dierolf. “With most teams, it takes a little longer (than three years) to get to where we are now.” The teams went into halftime tied at 2, as senior attacker Kyle Conrad provided a pair of goals for Ocean City (15-3) while Zach Wechsler and Ryan King tallied for EHT (13-4). But the Red Raiders scored three unanswered goals in the middle of the third quarter to take a 5-2 lead. Tommy Cusack broke the tie, and Conrad scored off the following two faceoffs before Sal Avellino finished off a nice possession by the Eagles with a goal that cut the deficit to 5-3. King found a cutting Justin Miller early in the fourth, as Miller’s goal from in close made it 5-4. The Eagles thought they had tied the game at 5 on a shot by Avellino later in the fourth quarter, but the referee ruled that the ball had not crossed the plane of the goal. That led to some frustration for the Eagles, who was flagged several times in the final two minutes for defensive penalties as Ocean City held possession in an attempt to run out the clock. [adrotate banner=”14″]”Guys at the end kind of felt like their season was slipping away and lost their cool, and you have to stay composed at the end. It cost a lot. It cost us possession, but more than anything it’s embarrassing. We talk about mental toughness and keeping your composure all the time,” said Egg Harbor Township coach John Ohlson. “I just explained to them that our playoffs started today, but they’re not over. We have to come out Tuesday and battle against Lower, and Lower is going to be coming after us and they always play a tough physical game and we have to match that. Then (in the first round of the playoffs), home or away, we’ll be in the playoffs and that’s what we’re going to be focusing on and preparing ourselves for.” “They got a little chippy (at the end) and were getting flags. You could tell they kind of lost composure, and we used to be that team,” Dierolf said. “Last year, we were that team. Once I saw them break down and get chippy, that’s what we were like last year and I knew we were going to finish the win.” 
Ocean City senior attacker Kyle Conrad celebrates after scoring a goal in the third quarter against EHT. Conrad finished with a game-high four goals for the Red Raiders. Conrad was a matchup nightmare for the EHT defense, finishing with a game-high four goals. “A 6-foot-5 guy, I wish I had more of them. That’s tough to defend. He’s playing in college next year and I’m excited to see how he does at the next level,” LaTorre said. Added Dierolf, “If he has an open shot he’s going to finish it. He’s great at assists, too. He’s just a great all-around player.” Both goalies played very well, as EHT’s Andrew “Rooster” Baumgartel finished with 10 saves and Ocean city’s Kolmer had 14. “Mark is a sophomore, so the best is yet to come. He is one of the reasons we were able to stay in that game. He made save after save,” LaTorre said. “Kolmer, he’s one of the main reasons we are where we are. He makes incredible saves. We won by one goal, and there are so many shots that should have gone in,” Dierolf said. “I was hearing their defenders say ‘how does this kid stop everything?’ And I’m standing there wondering the same thing. He has something in him, I don’t know what it is, but he makes incredible saves.” LaTorre said the key for his team late in the fourth quarter was understanding that possession was more important than trying to extend the lead. “We’ve been preaching that when we have a one- or two-goal lead, we have house money. You don’t need to score another goal, you have the lead,” LaTorre said. “There was a scrum with about 30 seconds left and Shane Stack was able to get the ground ball in front of the net with nobody there, but he was smart enough to pull the ball out and not shoot.” While Ohlson said he was disappointed with the way his team finished the game, he believes hotly contested games such as Friday’s are a good thing for Cape-Atlantic League lacrosse. “Both teams battled. We just dug ourselves a whole by allowing those three goals. Their defense and their goalie are way too good to come back from that far,” Ohlson said. “But it was a battle. These are the games, you know, the Cape-Atlantic League is really coming along with competitive games like this and hopefully down the road we’ll have more of them.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays [adsense]
Ocean City boys lacrosse win over EHT leaves Red Raiders coach Joe LaTorre ‘speechless’
