WEST ORANGE, NJ – The Seton Hall Prep varsity lacrosse team enjoyed a memorable campaign.
The Pirates finished with a stellar 16-4 record after losing to Delbarton, 11-10, in the championship game of the NJSIAA Non-Public “A” state tournament on June 1 at Livingston HS.
Delbarton’s Tom Schelling scored with three seconds left in regulation for the game-winner.
The game was suspended from the previous day due to lightning, with top-seeded SHP leading 7-5 with 11:25 left in the fourth quarter.
The teams returned to Livingston on June 1 and resumed the game at the point when it was halted. Junior Griffin Westlin scored to put SHP up 8-5. Delbarton, seeded second, scored the next two goals before freshman Connell Kumar scored with 5:29 left to extend SHP’s lead to 9-7. Delbarton answered with three straight goals to lead 10-9. Kumar then scored his team-high fourth goal of the game to tie it 10-10 with 23 seconds left. But Shelling’s heroics completed the dramatic comeback.
Westlin finished with two goals and one assist; freshman Luke Blanc had two goals; junior Jack Sarson and senior Michael Mughetto each had a goal; and senior Brian Tevlin and senior Sean Quinn each had an assist for the Pirates.
Delbarton moved to 19-1, avenging its only loss of the season. SHP defeated Delbarton, 8-7, April 13, at Brendan P. Tevlin Memorial Field on a last-second goal by Chase Maletesta.
The Pirates, under head coach Dave Giarrusso, this season won the Essex County Tournament title for the fifth consecutive year.
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