to date
Lady Knights seem poised for best season
to date
By Warren Rappleyea
Staff Writer
With a 2-3 record after just five matches, the Old Bridge High School girls’ lacrosse team appears to be on its way to besting its previous best win total of four.
Now in their fourth varsity campaign, the Lady Knights have twice won four matches in a season, and this year new coach Steve Gajewski has his sights set on qualifying for the state tournament.
"The girls have improved significantly," he said. "This season we’ve installed a new motion offense and the team is picking it up well. They’re working hard, and you can see it in the way they’re catching the ball and moving on the field."
Thus far the Lady Knights have downed both South Brunswick and North Brunswick, while losing to Hunterdon Central, Immaculata and Rutgers Prep.
Old Bridge has two matches this week — Tuesday’s 13-5 loss at Rutgers Prep, and at home against Ridge this afternoon — plus Bridgewater-Raritan on Monday.
Gajewski noted that his team has played especially well on defense. Seniors Rachel Cohen, Claire Li, and Christina Romano, junior Alexandra Petrocova, and sophomores Danielle Abrams and Kelly Duesterdick, have all done the job playing in front of Sylvia Wewiora and Sam May, who split time in goal.
The Lady Knights have managed to score their share of goals. Senior forward Stephanie Lovallo leads the team with 16 goals, while fellow attacker Amanda Hobson has three goals and seven assists. Christine DeRosa also has three goals. Laura Lanzafama, Yla Angso and lefty Danielle Fitzpatrick, an up-and-coming sophomore who has four goals, are Old Bridge’s other forwards.
Tara Nardella gives the Lady Knights a controlling presence in the middle. Nardella has six goals and a team-leading eight assists. Heather Connor, who has a pair of goals, and Stephanie Montalto are both solid two-way midfielders, Gajewski said.
Despite the sub-.500 record at this early stage in the season, the Knights remain confident that they will improve as the season progresses, and make a run at a postseason berth.
"While we want to get past four wins, I think this team can do much better than that," the coach said. "The girls have a lot of potential, and our real goal is to get into the state tournament."