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Sports

Dodgers Boys Lax, Oldendorp Roll Over Mendham

Senior scores five goals as defense does the rest.

On a cold April afternoon, the Madison High School boys lacrosse team looked dominant as it pounded Mendham, 9-1, on Friday in Mendham, behind a five-goal effort by senior attack Charlie Oldendorp and a stellar defense.

That defensive effort was made even more special by the fact that senior defender Will McDonald missed the game [on a college visit] forcing the Dodgers to really step up their play defensively.

And step up they did, as the Dodgers looked almost perfect, giving up only one goal, coming in the first two minutes of the first quarter.

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"Nice job," head coach Mark Sweeney said. "Defensively we really came out and played well. One of our starters wasn't here and we were concerned about that, but the sophomore [Eamon Epstein] that we threw out there to the dogs, Christian Mazzocchi and our goalies stepped up huge. They really went after people."

With the defense playing more physical than their counterparts and both Ryan Colwell and Brett Anton doing their best impressions of an impenetrable brick wall in goal, it was Oldendorp who took the scoring into his own hands.

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With three minutes remaining in the first quarter, Oldendorp ripped a shot from five yards out, tying the score at 1-1. Minutes later, after a missed shot by Austen Lein, Oldendorp scooped up the rebound and scored his second goal of the day.

It was all the scoring that Madison would need, although they made sure to add more goals.

"We looked real good today," Oldendorp said. "We were missing a big defenseman and the younger kids stepped up and really played well. Our offense pulled together and got it done. I think we all played well."

On Wednesday, Madison allowed Morristown-Beard back into a game in which it led 7-2 after the first half of play. That would not be the case this game.

The defense continued to play more physical than Mendham and offensively, Madison was overpowering.

Senior midfielder Will Stuhler got in on the scoring action, scoring the first of his two goals just 45 seconds into the second quarter, giving Madison a two-goal advantage.

In the second half, Oldendorp wasted no time scoring the teams' sixth goal of the game–his third of the game–just 15 seconds in.

Oldendorp would add another two goals, as would Lein and the Dodgers would cruise to its fourth win in as many games.

"They were relentless today," Sweeney said. "They're really starting to play well. I'm very happy."

Up next, the Dodgers will look to remain perfect on Tuesday at West Morris High School.

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