Shawnee Rallies Late to Top Scotch Plains-Fanwood, 12-8

It was a beautiful, sunny day at Shimme Wexler Field in Scotch Plains, New Jersey as the red hot 8-2 Shawnee Renegades came to town to face the 9-4 Scotch Plains-Fanwood Raiders riding a 3-game win streak, with both teams playing excellent heading into the back-half of their regular seasons.   Both fan bases showed up in full force, fired up and ready to go with a lot of energy and excitement for this matchup, and the Raiders were looking for revenge after the Renegades beat them 11-9 a year ago in Medford, New Jersey.   The first quarter started with a few good defensive possessions by both teams before junior midfielder Jack Creaney opened up the scoring with a slick face-dodge to get past his defender and score in tight. Senior middie Cale Stielau (Iona) would tally a goal later on and then found junior attackman [player_tooltip player_id='35707' first='Tyler' last='Rotkowitz'] (Rutgers) cutting from X for his first of many on the afternoon. To this point, SPF had gotten some good looks on cage, but net-minder Eddie Penberthy had done a good job in cage and senior FOGO [player_tooltip player_id='31263' first='Lucas' last='Estevez'] had lost only one face-off to Ryan Mauer (Brown) thus far. Raiders junior goalie Matt Kranz came up with two big saves to end the quarter with Shawnee leading 3-0.   Mauer started the 2nd quarter going 4-4, finding his rhythm, as did the Raiders' offense, with sophomore standout attackman Nick Homer cashing in two chances, before Rotkowitz found a cutting EJ Martino to entend their lead to two goals. Raiders sophomore Colin Kochanowicz, then connected on a low missile and following a caused turnover by the SPF defense, senior Caden Matulonis found junior [player_tooltip player_id='42677' first='Caleb' last='McDowell'] (Yale) for a momentum-shifting goal, before Kochanowicz scored again on the doorstep off a ground ball to give the Raiders their first lead of the day heading into the break, 5-4.   The big matchup to watch was attackman [player_tooltip player_id='31261' first='Thomas' last='McAneney'] (Duke) up against close defender [player_tooltip player_id='42677' first='Caleb' last='McDowell'], both highly ranked recruits and neither looking to backdown from the challenge. To this point, McDowell had played great individual defense against McAneney, pressuring his hands and using his big frame to prevent the junior attackman from getting an open look and although McAneney had hit two pipes, he hadn't yet registered a point.   The 3rd quarter was back and forth, with both teams getting good looks and open shots, while the physicality and intensity of the game started to pick up a bit as well. Kochanowicz completed his hat trick early in the 3rd and fellow classmate, Ryan Scarpa found the back of the net on a fast break, off a nice pass once again from Matulonis. The Renegades responded with Rotkowitz also tallying two more in the quarter for his hat trick and then Stielau closed out the scoring off a sweet cross-field feed from [player_tooltip player_id='31261' first='Thomas' last='McAneney'] to cut the Raiders' lead to one goal.   The final quarter was the [player_tooltip player_id='35707' first='Tyler' last='Rotkowitz'] show, first, he connected with McAneney, threading the needle in tight in an unsettled situation to tie the game at eight-a-piece. He then tallied his first of four goals of the quarter, beating his defender to the middle of the field and finishing with a high bouncer. Shortly thereafter, Jack Creaney found the Rutgers-bound attackman for a step down look off a save from Penberthy to extend their lead. While trying to run out the clock, Rotkowitz found the back of the net two more times to put the nail in the coffin and shatter any hopes of a Raiders comeback.    With McAneney getting a lot of attention and drawing the Raiders' best defender, it was a perfect situation for Rotkowitz to shine. He's a big, physical attackman who can impact the game in numerous ways. He works well to get himself in position to score off-ball and when he has his chances he does a good job of hitting the cage. His dodging ability was also on display all day as he used his quick feet and strength to beat his matchups from X and turn the corner coming up field for high percentage looks, while also mixing up his shot location to keep the goalie guessing. The Rutgers commit finished with 7 goals and 1 assist on the day.     Stielau is a great utility piece for the Renegades, with the ability to work as a two-way midfielder and affect the game on both ends. He finished with 4 points on the day, consisting of two goals and two assists, having an impact on all three first quarter goals for the Renegades. He assisted on the first goal of the game and then took it himself with a high bouncer in the top corner and then closed out the first frame by finding Rotkowitz from X. I expect him to continue to produce and play a big role in this offense down the stretch and into state playoffs.     McDowell had a fantastic day matched up against [player_tooltip player_id='31261' first='Thomas' last='McAneney'], who was held to one goal and one assist on the afternoon. The Yale product uses his strength and big body to overpower his matchups and stays disciplined with the checks he throws. He uses good positioning and footwork to guide his opponent down or up the alleys and applies hard pressure checks if met with any resistance. He also made an impact offensively by tallying a goal on a fast-break chance to swing the momentum in the Raiders' favor late in the first half. He is a player who matches up against the opposing teams' best player every game and still produces at a high level and I expect him to continue to do so.     The Brown commit got off to a rocky start in the first quarter, but found his way the rest of the game. He lost only two face-offs in the second quarter which turned the tides in favor of the Raiders as they were able to claw their way back into the game with good time of possession and quality looks. He totaled 15 wins overall at a 63% win rate, and won another five battles in the third frame to keep SPF leading heading into the fourth where he made some big plays but didn't see many fast break chances off his wins. Mauer will play a key role in the Raiders continued success this season.    Other Notable Outcomes from Around New Jersey:   Pingry beat Westfield, 8-5   Summit beat Bernards, 13-7   Chaminade (N.Y.) beat Delbarton, 13-9   St Anthony's (N.Y.) beat Don Bosco Prep, 7-5   Notre Dame beat Hopewell Valley, 13-9   Shore beat Hillsborough, 9-6

It was a beautiful, sunny day at Shimme Wexler Field in Scotch Plains, New Jersey as the red hot 8-2 Shawnee Renegades came to town to face the 9-4 Scotch Plains-Fanwood Raiders riding a 3-game win streak, with both teams playing excellent heading into the back-half of their regular seasons.