Chatham Boys Lacrosse Looking Healthy in Morris County Tournament Win; Boyd 1st Cougar Shutout in 5 Years, Kology Scores
CHATHAM, NJ — The Chatham boys lacrosse team may be getting healthy just in time to make a run in the 2021 Morris County Tournament.
The No. 3-seeded Cougars opened MCT play with a 13-0 win over No. 14 Mount Olive as a number of injured players returned to action on Tuesday at Cougar Field.
In addition to the return of senior middie Nick Jones, senior attack Marcus Colaco and junior middie Cam Rooney, Chatham (6-5) received its first shutout in five years from junior goalie Ryan Boyd and the first career goal from senior defenseman Griffin Kology.
“We’re getting there,” Chatham coach Tony Calandra said. “We’re finally back to being pretty much healthy and we’re getting back people we’ve been without all year long. As long as we keep not giving up any goals, we have a good chance to win. We’re kind of back to full strength.”
Chatham will play host to West Morris (7-3) in the MCT quarterfinals on Thursday.
Boyd made nine saves in the first shutout of his career and Kology kept pace with senior defenseman Frank Barbera as each has not notched a goal and an assist this season. The shutout came against a Mount Olive team that has scored a 19-1 win over Parsippany Hills just three days earlier.
Ryan Boyd and Griffin Kology talk about the win
Kology, who was credited with an assist in the previous game vs. Seton Hall Prep, scored unassisted in the third period (see below) to give the Cougars a 7-0 advantage.
Jones, who hadn’t played since the April 19 opener vs. Rumson-Fair Haven, netted his first goal of the season off a feed from James Platek (see below) to make it 8-0 in the third.
COUGAR NOTES: Goalie Ryan Boyd’s shutout for Chatham came exactly five years after the Cougars blanked Nutley, 18-0, on May 18, 2016, in the first round of the Group 2 state tournament. Ryan Ness and Jack O’Neill each made four saves in goal for the Cougars in that one … Chatham received goals from 10 different players, led by Teddy Manitta and Cullen Decker with two apiece; Jack Berger and James Platek, each with a goal and two assists, and Marcus Colaco and Jack Kuppenheimer with a goal and an assist apiece … Platek leads the team with 29 points (14 goals, 15 assists), followed by Cullen Decker with 21 (12 goals, 9 assists) and Manitta with 20 (14 goals, 6 assists).
