No. 3 Knights Roll Jersey Blues 31-6, Move on to NJCAA Semifinal Round

ROSEDALE, Md. -- The Knights of CCBC Essex showed just how determined they are to advance in this year's NJCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship with a 31-6 victory on Saturday against Brookdale C.C. in the quarterfinal round. 

Freshman middie Cole Rainier (Calverton School) led the Knights in scoring with nine points. He tied for a game-high five goals and had four assists. 

Brendan Nolan (Fallston) also had five goals, as the freshman connected on all but one of his shot attempts. 

Sophomore long-stick midfielder Chandler Aversa (Perry Hall) scored his first goal of the season and second of his collegiate career. 

"It was a good way to start the national tournament," said Knights' head coach Shawn Burke. "We were able to get everyone a lot of playing time."

Essex moves on to the semifinal round where it will face the No. 2 seeded Nassau C.C. The Knights lost to Nassau 15-8 on April 11, but that was nearly one month ago.  

"We look forward to a big challenge on Saturday against Nassau at our home stadium," said Burke.

The Knights (14-2, 3-0) got a rare opportunity against Brookdale (6-6, 2-1) to allow all four of its goalies to get into the game. 

Sophomore Max Edelmann (Middletown) started and played the first half between the pipes. He made five saves on seven shots and allowed just two goals. 

Sophomore Ross Dinan (Boy's Latin School) played the third quarter and stopped three of five shots, while allowing two goals. 

Sophomore Mike Pomponio (St. Mary's) played the front end of the fourth quarter and freshman Colin May (Archbishop Curley) ended the game in net. 

Pomponio only faced two shots and saved one. May saved six of seven shots that came his way. 

Overall, the Knights goalies stopped 15-of-21 Brookdale shot attempts, a 71.4 save percentage.

Essex came out fast and furious scoring three goals in the first four minutes of play, including its first 2:16 into the contest. 

The Knights had two 10-0 runs in the game and had twice as many shots (64) as Brookdale, putting 70% on goal. 

Essex had 15 goal scorers, six of whom had multiple goals. 

Freshman attackman DeAngelo Watkins (Decatur) was second on the team with four goals and added an assist. 

Freshman midfielder Ted Varano (Downingtown West) scored three goals and had an assist. 

Sophomore attackmen Cameron Stone (Foothill) and Dylan Bruce (Sehome-Bellingham) also scored multiple times. 

Stone had three goals with an assist and Bruce tallied two goals and one assist. 

The Knights season continues Saturday from its home field with a 3:30 p.m. semifinal match against Nassau. 

The winner moves on to play in the final on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. against the victor of No. 1 Onondaga C.C. against Genesee C.C.

For more tournament information visit bit.ly/njcaamlaxchamp