The Stateliners avenged a 2016 collapse against the Blue Streaks.
Phillipsburg High School’s boys lacrosse team knew what it was like to get off to a fast start against Warren Hills.
This year, however, the Stateliners were in search of a decisive finish.
A year after watching a big lead evaporate against the Blue Streaks, the Stateliners completed a comprehensive 13-5 victory during a Skyland Conference Valley Division game at the Phillipsburg Athletic Complex on Thursday afternoon.
It’s Phillipsburg first victory against Warren Hills in program history.
“They’re our rival — even though they don’t think that,” senior midfielder Garrett Boures said. “We are rivals. Today, we proved that we can beat them.”
“It’s our first milestone, I think. It’s the first hump to get over,” Stateliners coach Ian Decker said. “We’ve got a good young group and they’re flying around. We beat Warren Hills today on hustle.”
Phillipsburg jumped out to a 4-0 lead and was up 6-2 after the first quarter, before fading and falling 13-10 to Warren Hills in 2016.
The Stateliners (5-4 overall, 1-1 division) improved upon that opening on Thursday, tallying the game’s first five goals with a streak that culminated on a man-up laser beam from sophomore Chase Rivera with 2:30 left in the first quarter.
After sophomore Matt McShea finally got the Blue Streaks (2-5, 0-3) on the scoreboard with 30 seconds left in the opening period, the Stateliners scored another five unanswered goals. P’burg held the visitors scoreless for 22:10 and took a 10-1 advantage on a goal from Boures with 3:52 remaining in the third quarter.
“The second half was for last year,” Decker said. “We let one slip last year. It was really frustrating to go up there and have them on the ropes, the score was basically the same (on Thursday) … Our boys answered the bell.”
“We won every groundball,” Boures said. “We were just attacking all day.”
The Stateliners’ defenders punished Warren Hills throughout the afternoon and when they didn’t stifle the shot at the source, senior goalie Ryan Lacamera (13 saves) was there to protect the cage.
“I say all the time that our defense is our strongest point,” Boures said. “They’re a young group. It’s going to be great to see what they do next year. I’m proud of them — each and every one of them.”
Decker complimented freshman Kyle Tietjen, junior Derrick Liguori and sophomore Jeff Vitale for their work on “D.”
“If they can dial in mentally, we have the physical attributes to take over many of the teams that we play,” the coach said. “I think that was pretty evident today.”
Junior Chase Adams paced P’burg with five goals. Junior Kaden Piccone led Warren Hills with a pair of scores.
Decker, whose team had its first winning season (11-8) last spring, has been very encouraged by the new contributors that the youth system is providing. He’s hopeful that the ‘Liners are on track to become a premier attraction for fans.
“We have tough kids; we have kids that buy into the program,” the coach said. “We have football in the fall, wrestling in the winter, but where does the town go in the spring? I think the more we win, the more the town buys in, the more kids will want to play and it’s going to be a successful program.”
P’burg is right back at it on Friday, as it hosts Moravian Academy at the PAC.
“We just need to come back with the same momentum and finish,” said Boures, who had two goals and two assists.
“We have young guys stepping up and the old guys are really leading them,” Decker said. “I’m proud of that group because that’s what it takes to be a good program: senior leadership. I think we have that this year.”
Kyle Craig may be reached at kcraig@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KyleCraigSports. Find Lehigh Valley high school sports on Facebook.