Pascack Valley Shuts Out Paramus to Earn League Title

Kyle Stackpole

PV Sports Beat

When lacrosse teams starting conditioning and lifting during the winter months, there are three goals they intend to accomplish.

The first is a league title, the second a county championship, and the third a state crown.

Pascack Valley accomplished their first goal Wednesday afternoon on their home turf. By shutting out Paramus 13-0, they are now the champions of the Curcio Division.

“It's a huge accomplishment, especially since it’s our first shut out of the year,” said defensive captain Jeff Diorio. “We can attribute a lot of our success to our communication and physicality.”

This has been a memorable season for the Indians and a league championship is just another accomplishment to add to the collection. These individuals believed they could make an impact on this level and that's exactly what they did.

Although the weather was slow to cooperate, the Indians came out focused and ready to play. When half time had come about, the Pascack Valley was sitting fittingly with an 8-0 lead. At that point, they could feel the league championship in their grasp.

With the county tournament soon approaching, teams want to be reaching the peak of their play at this time of the year. With that being said, this might have been the most complete performance the Indians had put in all seaon. The defense was incredible, pitching a shutout and only allowing a few shots on goal.

“It's also all about the box, added Diorio, “and keeping our play clean and not taking any penalties was a big part of our game.”

On offense, the scoring was balanced and it seemed as though everyone was looking for their teammates instead of looking for their own shot. When it was all said and done, 9 different players scored for the Indians, led by Kevin Illian who recorded a hat trick.

Of those 9 players, one of them was sophomore Brendan Morrissey, whose goal was his first of the year. Morrissey’s role has increased throughout the season and he will need to continue to produce for the Indians down the stretch.

When asked about his goal, Morrissey replied "It felt great and I had to give my team a little extra with my dance,"

The other player to record his first goal was Junior Kenny Sessa. He also filled in for Vicchio when needed and won almost all of his face-offs.

Coach Craig Buckley has to be happy with his team’s performance going into his team’s first county game against River Dell this Saturday. It seems as though it is all coming together at the right time.

Along with being proud of his guys, he was also drenched as Juniors Nick Soravilla and Kevin Illian gave him the well-known “gatorade shower”, symbolizing this fantastic accomplishment. He may have been soaked, but he couldn't have been mad because his guys had earned this moment.

“Defense wins championships, said Diorio, “and we're all really glad to be a part of the first league championship team here at PV.

With task one out of the way, Pascack Valley mustn’t become complacent and needs to continue to strive for success.

They will back on the practice field Friday afternoon with one thing in mind and one thing only.

A county championship.

And they have the pieces to do it.