By:Neil Hay
Lawrenceville Prep learned the hard way Monday what Bob Turco knew all along.
That Peddie boys’ lacrosse is much more than a two-man team.
Sure, Peddie had high-scoring Joe Bossi and Ben Bailey camped out on the wings all season long, accounting for most of the Falcons’ offense. But if the Big Red chose to key on Bossi and Bailey, and let the rest of the attack roam free, that was A-OK with Turco.
Peddie took what Lawrenceville gave Monday, and went on to defeat the Big Red 11-8 in the state Prep A final game played up at Pingry. For Turco, the eighth-year Peddie coach, it was the kind of effort one would expect in a championship game. The kind of effort that wins praise from the coach. The kind of effort that wins championships.
“The kids played really hard,” Turco said. “It was an amazing effort. Lawrenceville decided to face guard our two leading scorers. Everyone else stepped up and scored. It was a really good team effort. The quintessential team effort. It was very courageous.”
Very courageous because the Peddie lacrosse boys have been playing hurt and banged up all year.
Turco expected Lawrenceville to pull out the stops to contain Bossi and Bailey. By doing so, however, it allowed other players to enter the offensive flow and get scoring chances. Chances they capitalized on.
“We were ready (for Lawrenceville’s defensive stragey),” Turco said. “Whatever they gave, we took it. It was a mistake to think we have just two offensive players. All year long Bailey and Bossi did the job. We did not panic. We showed that the others could play too. I was really proud,” said Turco.
Peter Friedman scored Peddie’s first two goals of the game as the Falcons took a 3-1 lead after one period. Friedman assisted on three other goals as well. Eliot Dahood (two assists), Tim Wiegand and Bossi also scored twice, while Bailey, Jackson Kiniry, and Jose Perez each had a solo goal.
Peddie led 6-2 and 7-4 before the Big Red rallied to tie the score 7-7 after three periods. For nearly ten minutes of the game the Falcons played at least one man down (and were two-men shorthanded late in the third period), while Lawrenceville played shorthanded for less than three minutes.
“That takes a lot of energy out of you,” said Turco.
Even goalie Rich D’Andrea (11 saves) spent some time on the sidelines with a penalty. That allowed reserve goalie Steve Benjamin to make two “unbelievable” saves in the second period when Peddie was a man down.
“He finally got his chance,” said Turco of the little used senior ‘keeper.
Peddie wrapped up its third Prep A championship (the others were in 1996 and 1997, breaking a 20-year drought) with four goals in the final period. The Peddie defense and D’Andrea (with four “magnificent” saves) would give the Falcons its seventh win in the last five seasons over the Big Red, and avenged last spring’s 5-4 Prep A final loss.
Of D’Andrea, Turco said, “Rich sometimes tries to do too much. He is a very active, athletic goalie. He regrouped and had one of the best fourth quarters I ever saw.”
The win capped a 15-3 season for Peddie, and gave the locals their third title of the year (earlier Peddie won its second straight MAPL crown without a loss, and was co-champs of the prep-public school Pitt Division with Hunterdon Central and Bridgewater).
Turco will lose eight seniors to graduation: senior defenders Peter Martin, Tim Sorenson, and Jayar Donlan, plus Rob Bower, Perez, Bossi, Bailey, and Benjamin. But 14 players will be back to help the Falcons defend their titles.
Asked how this team compared to other Peddie squads, Turco replied, “In 1996 we were ranked fourth in the nation, were undefeated, and never trailed in a game. But this is the most courageous team I ever coached.
“The effort the kids gave was unbelievable. We made (Lawrenceville) throw the ball away. We rode them,” said Turco, meaning the Big Red’s attack. He also could have meant his players, to a championship.
