Girls lacrosse team wins first PCT title

A four-goal deficit after the first period of the Passaic County Tournament championship game was no reason to panic for the West Milford High School girls lacrosse team.

The Highlanders quickly regrouped. Behind five goals from Paige Fava, four goals from Kailey Maskerines, and a goal, five ground balls and four draw controls from Vivian Sirnik, they rallied for a 10-9 victory over top-seeded DePaul on Saturday, May 11 at Wayne Valley High School.

The title is the first for West Milford, which had lost in the semifinal round the past two seasons.

“I’m just so happy and proud of these girls,” said head coach Harry Shortway. “They were down early but never gave up and never put their heads down. I got pumped up on the sidelines and they got pumped up.

“This was one of our goals this season and they wanted it badly.”

Fava, who also had four ground balls, went over the 200-point milestone after registering her 150th career goal. She has 157 goals and 46 assists, including 61 goals this season.

“Paige is a gamer,” Shortway said. “She loves the game, studies it and has been a sparkplug for us. Her and Kailey work so well together.”

Maskerines added four ground balls and now has 34 goals and 34 assists this spring.

Other catalysts in the victory include Madison Tenhoeve (one ground ball), Sklyer Ribitzki (two ground balls), Adison Arciniega (two ground balls), Ashley Czeczuga (one ground ball), Olivia Brijbag (one ground ball) and Emmeline Kreutzer (two ground balls).

Sophomore goalie Allie Rockey made four saves and now has 100 on the year.

“I’m not easy on them, but I just want them to succeed,” said Shortway. ‘When I got here, our banner in the gym was empty and now we have two divisional titles and a county championship.

“We still have work to do this season and I told them not rest on their laurels.”

The Highlanders were scheduled to play host to River Dell on Monday, May 13 and Lakeland on Wednesday, May 15 in search of their third straight NJIGLL divisional title.

Here’s how other West Milford teams fared last week:

Boys lacrosse

Vincent D’Andrea had two goals; Jake Kelshaw had a goal and two assists and won 10 faceoffs; and Ryan Czeczuga added a goal and an assist, but third-seeded West Milford bowed to top-seeded Wayne Valley, 11-5, in the PCT championship game there May 11.

West Milford, appearing in its third straight PCT final, was seeking its first title since 2022. Wayne Valley defeated West Milford, 7-1, in the final last year.

The Highlanders had defeated second-seeded Lakeland, 11-4, in the PCT semifinal round there May 8.

Kelshaw (two goals, three assists, four ground balls, five faceoffs won), Max Gorny (three goals, one assist), D’Andrea (two goals, one assist), Brett Provenzano (one goal, three assists) and Tyler Acanfrio (19 saves) keyed the victory.

Baseball

Colby Scott was 2-for-3 with two doubles and a run; Charles Cimmino singled in two runs; Kyle Schwarzlow went 2-for-3 with a double and two runs; and Chris Timmins was 2-for-3 with an RBI to steer West Milford to a 7-4 victory over Ridgefield Park on Thursday, May 9 at home.

Thomas Trapasso (five innings) and Scott (two innings) combined on a two-hitter in the decision.

West Milford (6-16) will play host to Bergen Tech at 6 p.m. Friday, May 17.

Softball

Amelia Pilatowski was 2-for-3 with three RBI and a run; Amber Little doubled in two runs and scored; and Hayley Allwood doubled in two runs and scored three times to power West Milford to a 14-1 five-inning victory over Paterson Kennedy there May 8.

Caitlyn Clarke pitched a one-hitter with six strikeouts and five walks to earn the win in the circle.

The Highlanders (11-9) will play at Wayne Hills at 4:15 p.m. Thursday, May 16.

Boys tennis

Ethan Garcia (first singles), Lucas White (second singles), Keith Telesmanich (third singles), Brendan Garcia and Daniel Chen (first doubles), and Athan Burke and John Parkin (second doubles) all prevailed as West Milford defeated Passaic Valley, 5-0, on May 7 in Little Falls.

West Milford (4-8) will play host to Paterson Eastside at 4:30 p.m. May 16.

Boys volleyball

The fourth-seeded Highlanders defeated fifth-seeded Wayne Hills, 25-16, 22-25, 25-17, in the quarterfinal round of the PCT at home Friday, May 10.

West Milford (8-6) was led by Jayden Huber (34 assists, nine digs, one kill, one block, two aces), Aiden Rosenberg (11 digs, nine kills, one ace, one block), Andre Christ (14 kills, 14 digs), Kyle Arciniega (nine kills, six digs, one assist), Michael Paulison (13 digs, one assist), Andrew Nowicki (three digs, two kills, one ace) and Kevin Docwra (10 digs).

The Highlanders were scheduled to play at top-seeded Passaic Charter in the semifinal round May 15.