The weather felt more like December than April, but the chill at yesterday’s opening games for the Verona High School boys and girls lacrosse teams wasn’t just because of the temperature on the fields. Both teams played highly competitive, tight-scoring games that kept fans in suspense until the end. One lost in the closing seconds, while the other was pushed into overtime just as the clock was about to run out, but pulled out a win in the end.
The Verona girls took on Montclair Kimberley at its home field in Montclair in late afternoon. Junior Julieanne Mascera toted up an astounding eight goals for Verona, while senior Donna Jo DiNorcia had four goals and three assists. But with just about 90 seconds to go, MKA tossed in a shot to take the match 15-14. The girls face Morristown High School at Centennial Field on Monday, April 4, at 4 p.m.
The scoring was much more widely distributed in the boys match against Livingston, which had a 7 p.m. start. Mike Theobold and Marc Cortese had two goals apiece, and Tom McManus, Greg Schiffenhaus and Cooper Neale each had one, in regulation play, as did Colin Farawell. Verona was up by 1 point when Livingston lobbed one in with just 1.3 seconds to go, to tie the game 8-8. The photo you see above is what happened next: Farawell scored at 2:08 minutes into sudden death overtime to win the game. The boys next match is Tuesday, April 5, at Union City High School at 4 p.m.
Fred Goode was at the boys match, with camera.
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