The coveted Bristol Cup was on the line and the No. 5 Pingry Big Blue machine wanted it badly when they marched into Westfield to match sticks with the No. 4 Westfield High School boys lacrosse team on May 1. The Big Blue got a quick three-goal lead then matched the Blue Devils in goals the remainder of the way to snatch the Bristol Cup with an 8-5 victory.
The 9-1 Pingry boys, whose only loss was to Ridgewood, 8-4, scored within the first 20 seconds of the game, added a goal midway through the first quarter then stretched their lead to 3-0 with 4:03 left in the quarter. The 8-2 Blue Devils scored their first goal with :04 left in the quarter just after the face-off when senior Mike Marshall slammed one home. Both teams scored twice in the second and third quarters then Pingry shut out the Blue Devils in the fourth, while adding one for themselves.
Marshall finished with two goals and four ground balls. Senior attacker Colin Coyle finished with two goals and an assist.Attacker Garrett Ferguson had a goal and an assist.Attacker Cody Lam dished out a pair of assists and scooped three ground balls. Midfielder Christian Gilford had an assist and scooped three ground balls. Face-off specialist Josh Caramagno won nine of 16 from the center pit and scooped a ground ball. Defender Ben Seward scooped three ground balls, while Steve Csorba and Billy Gerne each scooped two ground balls. Goalkeeper Corey Gilford recorded five saves.
Charlie Sherman netted three goals and scooped three ground balls for Pingry. Asher Ziv finished with a goal, three assists and two ground balls. Jonah Ziv had a goal, assists and three ground balls. Dylan Blekicki finished with two goals, an assist and three ground balls. Jack Goodwin scored once. Brice Crosby won five of seven face-offs, Will Meyer won two of six face-offs and Rafferty Harris won one of three face-offs.Tyler Katt scooped six ground balls and goalkeeper Graham Stevens was credited with nine saves.
The setback snapped an eight-game winning streak for the Blue Devils, whose only other loss was 8-7 in overtime to St. Augustine in their season opener.
