ROCKAWAY TWP. - Once again, the RockDen Renegade players on the Jersey Thunder 5-6 grade boys lacrosse team out of Tranquility played a major role in the team's 3-1 showing at the Best of the Beach Lacrosse Festival at Southern Regional High School in Manahawkin on the weekend of Friday and Saturday, July 22-23, 2011.
    With Cole Franchi, Shane Dougherty and Jacob Sarrel each scoring four goals and Brett Coleman adding one, the Renegades were scored more than half of the Thunder's 23 goals in the four-game, two-day competition.
    Renegade goalie Chris Bartel stopped 12 of the 14 shots he faced while playing one half in each of the Thunder's four games.
    The Thunder opened the festival with an 8-0 victory over the QSI (Pa.) Lacrosse Club as Bartel got a piece of the shutout by stopping all four shots he faced in his half of play. Dougherty and Franchi each scored two goals and added one assist and Coleman scored his first goal of the summer for the Thunder.
    The Thunder suffered their lone loss of the weekend in a 5-1 defeat at the hands of the Steps (N.J.) All-Stars, the team that went on to win the festival championship. Sarrel got the only goal of the game for the Thunder and Bartel finished his half of play with six saves while allowing two goals.
    Sarrel scored two goals, Franchi had a goal and three assists; and Dougherty had one goal when the Thunder beat the Turf Island (L.I.) Oilers, 7-1, in the third game. Bartel stopped both shots he saw in his half of play.
    In the final game, the Thunder stopped the Sportsbarn Bombers of Fishkill, N.Y., 7-0, as Franchi, Dougherty and Sarrell each scored a goal and Franchi added two assists. Bartel did not face any shots on net in his half of play.
    The Thunder finished their tournament season with an 18-5-1 record, scoring 143 goals while allowing 55.
    Franchi was the team's top scorer with 54 points on 23 goals and 31 assists. Dougherty had a team-leading 29 goals and seven assists for 36 points; Sarrel had 11 goals and nine assists for 20 points; Josh Frio finished with five goals and one assist for six points; and Coleman finished with one goal.
    Bartel's 24-game totals included 91 saves on 123 shots for a 74% save percentage.

---

Dougherty's 11 goals help Thunder go 4-1 in festival

    ROCKAWAY TWP. - The Jersey Thunder Lacrosse Club, bolstered by six RockDen Renegades players, compiled a 4-1 record and finished fifth out of 20 teams in the 5th/6th-grade division of the Sweet Laxin Festival held at the Duke Island Fields in Bridgewater on Saturday and Sunday, July 9-10, 2011.
    The Renegades' Shane Dougherty finished with 11 goals and one assist - scoring at least one goal in each of the five games - as the RockDen players accounted for 18  of the Thunders' tourney total of 40 goals.
    Cole Franchi finished with three goals and seven assists and had at least one assist in each game; Jacob Sarrel had three goals and two assists in the five games; and Josh Frio had one goal and one assist.
    Renegade goalie Chris Bartel was in goal for each of the five mini-games (20-minute running halves) and gave up 14 goals while making 30 saves. He had one shutout and allowed one goal in two other games.
    The Thunder opened play with a 10-2 win over The Brotherhood with Dougherty scoring three goals; Sarrel had a goal and an assist; Frio had a goal; and Franchi had one assist. Bartel finished with three saves.
    Bartel stopped all five shots he saw in The Thunder's 9-0 win over Gamerz in the second game. Sarrel had a goal and an assist; Dougherty had a goal; and Franchi finished with one assist.
    The Thunder suffered their only loss in Game 3, dropping a 10-7 decision to the Golden (Ohio) Bears. Dougherty finished with three goals and an assist; Sarrel scored a goal; and Franchi had one assist. Bartel had a busy time of it in goal, stopping half of the 20 shots he faced.
    Franchi's two-goal, three-assist effort got The Thunder back on the winning track in Game 4, an 8-1 victory over the NJ Red & Black. Dougherty also scored two goals in this game and Bartel finished with five saves.
    Dougherty scored twice in the final game, a 6-1 win over the Madison Futures. Franchi had a goal and an assist; Frio had an assist; and Bartel stopped seven of the eight shots he faced.
    The Thunder outscored the opposition 40-14 in the tourney and now have a tournament record of 15-4-1 for the summer.
    The final tournament of the season is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, July 22-23, when The Thunder will compete in the Best of the Beach Festival in Manahawkin.

---

Thunder reach semis as Franchi scores in each game

     ROCKAWAY TWP. - The six RockDen Renegades players on the Jersey Thunder 5th/6th-grade lacrosse team once again played major roles in the team's 5-1 showing at the Future Legends Lacrosse Festival held at RVA Fields in Boonton Township on Saturday, June 25, 2011.
    The Thunder won its first five games of the six-team mini-tourney to reach the semifinals, where it lost a 3-1 decision to the Long Island Express. Each mini-game was composed of two 20-minutes running halves.
    Cole Franchi was the leading Renegade scorer, scoring at least one goal in each of the six games to finish with seven goals and six assists. Shane Dougherty scored six goals; Jacob Sarrel finished with two goals and two assists; and Josh Frio scored one goal.
    Goaltender Chris Bartel, playing one half in each game, finished the tournament by stopping 14 of the 18 shots he faced.
    The Thunder opened the tournament with a 7-1 victory over the Hillsborough Pride as Franchi had one goal and one assist, Doughterty scored a goal; and Bartel stopped three of the four shots the Pride put on goal.
    The second game was a 10-1 win over East Coast Lacrosse with Doughtery scored three goals. Franchi added a goal and two assists; Sarrel had a goal and an assist; and Bartel stopped all three shots he saw.
    Franchi scored two goals and added an assist when the Thunder beat Brotherhood Lacrosse, 9-0, in the third game. Dougherty, Sarrel and Frio each had one goal and Bartel did not have to make a save in his half.
    Game 4 was a 5-3 win over the Medford Lakes Warriors with Franchi scoring a goal and an assist; Sarrel adding an assist; and Bartel stopping four of the five shots Medford Lakes put on goal.
    The Thunder faced the Long Island Sampeded in the quarterfinal round and advanced to the semis with a 4-0 victory. Franchi scored a goal and had an assist; Dougherty scored a goal; and Bartel stopped the only shot he saw in his half in goal.
    The Long Island Express stopped the Thunder winning streak in a semifinal round game, holding the Jersey team to one first-half goal in posting a 3-1 victory. Franchi got the team's only goal and Bartel finished with two goals allowed and three saves.
    The Thunder outscored their opponents, 36 goals to 8 during the tournament with the Renegades accounting for 16 of the goals.
    The next stop for the Jersey Thunder will be the Sweet Lax Festival in Bridgewater on Saturday and Sunday, July 9-10.

---

Thunder 3rd at Lehigh as Renegades lead way

    ROCKAWAY TWP. - For the second straight weekend, the RockDen Renegade players on the Jersey Thunder 5th/6th-grade boys lacrosse travel team played a huge role in the team's success at a youth lacrosse festival.
    The Thunder finished with a 3-1 record and was third in its division at the Lehigh Laxfest on the campus of Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa., on Saturday, June 18, 2011.
    Renegade players either scored the goal or got credit for an assist in 13 of the 14 goals the Thunder scored in the four 20-minute mini-games played in the festival.
    The Thunder opened with a 6-0 victory over the River (Pa.) Dogs when Shane Dougherty scored two goals; Jacob Sarrel scored a goal and had three assists; Cole Franchi scored a goal and had an assist; and Josh Frio had an assist. Chris Bartel made two saves in his half in the cage for the Renegades.
    In the second game, the Thunder beat Triple H of Pennsylvania, 3-2, as Dougherty scored two goals and assisted on the third and Franchi finished with one assist. Bartel gave up a goal in his half as Thunder goalie and finished with three saves.
    The only loss the Thunder had on the day was a 4-1 defeat at the hands of the Green & Gold of Hunterdon (NJ) County, a game that was close until the Green & Gold scored twice late in the game. Franchi got the assist on the Thunder goal. Bartel gave up two goals in the first half and finished with one save.
    Franchi scored three goals in the Thunder's finale, a 4-3 victory over the Long Island Express. Bartel gave up on goal in the first half and finished with four saves.
    The Thunder is now 6-2-1 after two tournaments and will try to improve upon that record on Saturday, June 25, when they compete in the Future Legends Laxfest in Boonton Township.

---

Renegades play key roles as Thunder ties for title

    ROCKAWAY TWP. - Six members of the RockDen Lacrosse boys program played key roles for the NJ Thunder when the 5th/6th grade elite team was awarded a share of the title of the 2011 Andy Forsberg Lacrosse Tournament held in Long Island recently.
    Renagades Josh Frio, Jacob Sarrel, Brett Coleman, Shane Dougherty, Cole Franchi and Chris Bartel tried out for and were selected to the 12-man travel team located in Tranquility, NJ.
    The Thunder was 3-1-1 in the Forsberg tournament, losing to the Huntingdon Green Machine, 6-3, in the qualifying rounds and then meeting the same team again in the championship game that ended in a 2-2 tie when the game was halted by thunder and lightning and the teams declared co-champions.
    Franchi and Doughtery scored the goals for the thunder and Bartel recorded six saves in the half-game he played in the championship game.
    Earlier, Franchi scored three goals and had two assists in the Thunder's 11-5 victory over the NY Vipers in the semifinal game. Dougherty had two goals and an assist; Sarrel finished with a goal and an assist; Frio had one goal; and Bartel made four saves in his half of play.
    The Thunder was 2-1 in the qualfying round, opening with a 5-3 victory over the Long Island Express; beating the Long Island Stampede, 8-2; and losing to the Green Machine.
    Franchi had a goal and three assists; Dougherty had two assists; and Bartel registered five saves in the win over the Express.
    In the win over the Stampede, Frio and Dougherty each had a goal; Franchi had two assists; Sarrel had an assist; and Bartel finished with three saves in his half-game of work.
    Doughtery had a goal and Franchi had two assists in the loss to Huntington; Bartel finished with six saves.
    The team is coached by Allen Geissel and Josh Danziger.
    The Thunder will play in the Lehigh LaxFest at Lehigh (Pa.) University the weekend of Saturday-Sunday, June 18-19.