Vikes rebound after losing first two in boys’ lacrosse

By: Carolyn M. Hartko
   The South Brunswick High School boys’ lacrosse team temporarily holds a very unusual school record. This Viking squad has played more games so far this season (four) than any other spring sport team at SBHS.
   While fields in Middlesex County are snow-covered, Manasquan High School continues to enjoy spring. That meant the Vikings and Warriors got to play on Tuesday, as scheduled. The visitors took advantage of the better climate to pick up a 7-4 victory, their second of the season. South Brunswick is now 2-2, while Manasquan dropped to 0-2.
   At the end of the first period, the game was tied 1-1, but Mike Valentino notched four goals in the second quarter to put the Vikings ahead for good. The Warriors scored one goal in each period, but couldn’t catch the Vikings. Ian Muchanic, Jordan Asch and Mike Bacci also scored for South Brunswick.
   After getting off to an 0-2 start, it was last Saturday’s home game against Montgomery, played in cold and damp weather conditions, that turned things around for the Vikings. Six different people scored for SBHS in that contest. Muchanic, a sophomore, recorded his first varsity goal, and Bacci, Pete Sarangnese, Brian Kneis, Pat Jenkins and Valentino connected for one apiece.
   "It’s always nice to get the first win to get things going," Viking head coach Mark Ziminski said. "I’m just glad we got to play Saturday. A lot of teams did not play, because of the weather. It was a good game for us to get back on track, and just to kind of get settled in."
   The South Brunswick defense played very well on Saturday, holding Montgomery scoreless in the second and third quarters. But Ziminski felt it was some tinkering with the line-up that really made the difference in the last two games.
   "Pretty much after the first two games, we saw that we had to move guys around, maybe do a couple of things differently," the coach said. "We still had guys in spots that they weren’t the most productive in. So, we made a couple of adjustments, and that seemed to get us off to a good start. And sometimes, that’s what it takes, because we did have a big turnover on defense last year, and on offense as well, losing Taylor (Reed) and a couple of other guys."
   One of Ziminski’s concerns going into this season had been finding attackers who could score goals. That doesn’t seem to be a problem anymore, as the Vikings have netted 28 in their first four games, including 10 in their opening day loss against Notre Dame (11-10). Now Ziminski would like to see his squad time those goals so they can get an early lead in a game, and then play possession.
   "We really try to run a ball-control offense," Ziminski said. "Lacrosse is really a game of spurts. The team that can continue to score and hold the other team down is going to win more times than not.
   Against Montgomery, we did a great job in that regard. It was our most complete game in the season, so far."
   Valentino won nine face-offs against the Cougars.
   "Mike was excellent on face-offs," Ziminski said. "They had no answer for him. He was winning just about every one. And Ryota (Ishikawa) was excellent in goal. Those are two guys that have to produce for us, game in and game out, for us to be successful."
   Ishikawa posted 12 saves against Montgomery, and 13 at Manasquan.
   The one disappointment for the Vikings was last week’s 8-5 loss to St. Joseph’s. These two teams have clashed in the championship game of the county lacrosse tournament for the past two years. South Brunswick won the first year, and St. Joe’s took home the trophy last year. Although the Falcons came out on top again, the Vikings looked better in this outing. They were able to score, showed some decent ball control, and held their own against the Falcons’ more physical style of play.
   "You can really negate the opponent’s size if you can control the ball more times than not during the game," Ziminski said. "And that’s what we try to do. Teams are going to be bigger than us because we’re not a big team. We just have to take away their aggressiveness by possessing the ball."
   The Vikings are hoping that their home fields are playable by the end of this week for home games against East Brunswick Friday and Howell Saturday.