On Wednesday the 25th, Oratory kicked off its season against Millburn; a team trying to bounce back into the upper-tier of New Jersey Lacrosse after a rough 4-13 season last year. The Rams struck first from a shot on the crease from Junior Cam Magee, the first goal of the 2015 regular season for the team. After Millburn got a goal of their own, Senior Captain Jack McKenna buried a laser from the alley. Oratory built their lead to 4-2 after goals were scored from Defensemen and Senior Captain Mike McHale and Sophomore Jake Kontra. Millburn took the lead in the fourth quarter to make it 5-4, but Jack Mckenna and the Oratory Prep defense were having absolutely none of that. Jack Mckenna notched two goals in the final quarter to give the rams their first win of the season by a score of 6-5. Matt Lanigan stood on his head and ended up with 14 saves on the day. It was Coach Peterson’s first win as head coach of the team and hopefully there would be many more this season.

The team then took on Bishop Eustace Saturday the 28th after their season-opener against Millburn. The Eustace Crusaders were coming off a tremendous season, only losing two games and falling to Immaculata in the Non-Public B Tournament. However, Oratory did not care about BE’s past and showed how lacrosse is played in Northern New Jersey. The Rams opened the game with 4-1 lead in the first quarter after rebounding from the Crusader’s early goal. The goals were scored by Jake Gieselman, Dante Corrado, Joel Pascuzzi, and Mike McHale. Then, the Rams started to struggle, letting up two straight goals in the second. Jack McKenna however, broke this comeback with a goal to make it 5-3. Jack Mckenna proceeded to score another while Dante Corrado and Jake Kontra followed with ones of their own to make the score 8-4 late in the game. Eustace tried to rally with four minutes left, but their charge came up short as Oratory won by a score of 8-6. Matt Lanigan made a plethora of beautiful saves and ended up with nine in the effort. The rams take on Non-Public A giant Saint Peter’s on Tuesday the 31st.

Three Stars:

1st- Matt Lanigan

2nd- Jack Mckenna

3rd- Mike McHale