Rumson Heads to Madison With a Sectional Final Berth on the Line

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Rumson-Fair Haven is the last Shore Conference team left in the postseason, and today the third-seeded Bulldogs will try to reach their fourth straight sectional final when they travel to Morris County to take on second-seeded Madison at 2 p.m.

Nine of the Shore Conference's 10 teams that played Tuesday saw their seasons come to an end, including top-ranked and previously undefeated Southern, which was shocked by eighth-seeded Eastern 10-9 in overtime in the South Group IV quarterfinals. Rumson, with its 10-1 victory over sixth-seeded Delaware Valley, was the only area team to survive.

After graduating a tremendous senior class after last season, Rumson entered the season with a young squad that took time to come together. The Bulldogs started 0-4 with losses to Caldwell, Summit, Bridgewater-Raritan and Southern, but rebounded by winning 12 of their next 13 games, losing only to St. Augustine Prep along the way. Rumson would go on to win eight games in a row following the loss to the Hermits and advanced to the Shore Conference Tournament final for the sixth straight season before falling to Southern. Five of Rumson's six losses have come to teams ranked among the top 12 in New Jersey.

Rumson features a balanced offensive attack that includes four players with 20 or more goals and a total of eight players with double-digit goals. Junior attackman Robbie Garavente leads the team in all categories with 39 goals and 30 assists. Senior midfielder Lucas Seckler is second on the team in goals with 25, while junior attackman Henry Sillen has 27 goals and 16 assists and fellow junior linemate Griffin Schultz has scored 22 goals with 12 assists. Sophomore midfielder Bryan Hess comes in with 19 goals, sophomores Charlie Curran and Colin Pavluk each have 16 goals and junior Matt Waters checks in with 12 goals.

Junior Lachlan Hull leads the team in ground balls with 45, while senior defenseman Cooper Cuje and senior long-stick midfielder Jack Moore lead the defense. Cuje leads the team with 27 takeaways. Junior defenseman Ian Clarke and sophomore defenseman Emmet Jennings (18 takeaways) round out the defensive core.

Rumson has split time equally in goal between junior Kyle Knapp and sophomore Conor Deverin. Deverin is 10-3 with 106 saves and .697 save percentage. Knapp is 7-4 with 70 saves and a .583 save percentage. Knapp has started both state playoff games while Deverin started all four games in the Shore Conference Tournament.

Madison enters today's game with a 12-6 record. The Dodgers defeated Shore Regional 15-2 in the first round and edged Robbinsville 6-5 in the quarterfinals. For comparison sake, Robbinsville lost to Howell 11-9 and Freehold Township 11-6 early in the season. Madison has not had a winning streak longer than three games this season, although the Dodgers have played top competition. Three of their six losses have come to Pingry, Morristown-Beard and Mountain Lakes, all of which are ranked in the top 12 in the state.

A.J. Schmitz leads the Dodgers with 47 goals and 26 assists while Vince Sapio has 46 goals and 10 assists. Justin Dalena has 25 goals and four assists. Nick Dilauri is Madison's goalie with an 8-3 record and a .552 save percentage.

The winner of today's game will face the winner of top-seeded New Providence and fourth-seeded Bernards for the sectional title.