Ferrara keys Knight defensive effort in 16-1 win
By: Justin Feil
There’s something about defense and Joe Ferrara that just goes together. The West Windsor-Plainsboro North junior was a top defenseman for the Knight ice hockey team, and a top reason that they went farther in the state tournament than any other Mercer County team before.
Now the Knight boys’ lacrosse team is hoping that Ferrara can have the same effect for it in the state tournament. After an opening-round 16-1 win over New Egypt on Tuesday, things were looking good before a scheduled game against No. 10 seed Madison.
"He’s probably the best defensive midfielder on our team, probably in the league," said WW-PN head coach Neil Brown, whose team was 10-5 going into Thursday’s game. "I always want Joe covering the best players when he’s on defense. He carries the knowledge that he has from hockey.
"He hustles, he gets ground balls. He’s a guy that coaches love to have. Sometimes you forget about him. You’re so used to him being so good. Every once in a while, you take it for granted. He’s so consistent every time."
Consistency was what WW-PN was looking for as it went into Thursday’s game. The Knights’ win Tuesday helped them rebound from a disappointing 11-10 overtime loss to West Windsor-Plainsboro South on Saturday.
"We returned to doing the things they do well," Brown said. "We played good defense and we moved the ball well on offense. We talked about it, and we weren’t treating each other with enough respect. We were better at that (Tuesday).
"We rededicated ourselves in states. We wanted to show that basically we are a better team than we showed in the last week of the season. This was a team effort. It was exactly what we asked for."
WW-P South didn’t get what it asked for after back-to-back wins over Hun and North last week. The Pirates lost, 16-6, to St. Joseph’s on Wednesday in a rematch of a one-goal loss for the Pirates earlier this season. It wasn’t that St. Joseph’s had improved that much, however, but that WW-PS didn’t have its full team available Wednesday.
"It was 5-5 in the first quarter and 6-5 at halftime," said WW-PS head coach Kerry Weigner, whose team fell to 12-4 going into a scheduled make-up game against Princeton Day School on Thursday. "But then it was injuries. Rob (Morris) went down seven minutes into the game with a hip or upper abdomen injury.
"It was a tight game, but then guys that got banged up against North, like (Jon) Lupo, (Mat) Burke and (Paul) Tadej and without Brady (Dearden), by the second half we were just worn down. They probably shouldn’t have been playing, but since it was a state game, they played and gave us all they could. We had other kids step up and do what they could, but they’re not first-line players, and even though we’re deep, it’s not the same."
St. Joseph’s took advantage with five third-quarter goals to pull away from the Pirates.
"When our best players cannot physically be out there, or are out there at 40 percent, it’s tough," Weigner said. "We were outgunned, but we weren’t full force. When the best player in the Bianchi Division only plays five minutes, and one of the three best defensemen in the league is only 50 percent it’s tough to win.
"They’re going to be exhausted (for PDS), tired and banged up. For a lot of seniors, it might be their last chance to play organized lacrosse. Our championship, quite honestly, was Saturday. We put a lot of emotion and heart and effort into it. We put so much into last week and asked our kids to do everything they could. We kept asking them for more and they just don’t have anymore to give. It was just sheer guts they were playing on."
Brown expects the same sort of effort out of his Knights team that came in seeded 23rd, and was hoping for an upset of Madison. With a win Thursday, North would likely play at No. 7 Columbia.
"Now that we’re into states, they realize this is it for the seniors," Brown said. "They want to end their careers on a high note. It showed (Tuesday). We got solid play from everybody. Everyone on the team picked up their game when they had to."
And with that, the Knights advanced to the second round of the state boys’ lacrosse tournament for the second straight year. And this time, with experienced players like Joe Ferrara shoring up the midfield defense, WW-PN is hoping to extend its season another round, to the farthest its ever been in the state tournament.

