By: Carolyn M. Hartko
For the previous two years, the South Brunswick High School boys’ lacrosse team qualified for post-season play in the state tournament. This spring, the Vikings took it a step further. They not only earned a berth in the tourney, they won their first ever state tournament game in a 7-6 upset victory at Boonton last week.
Unfortunately, the heady feeling didn’t last long as Ridgewood, seeded fifth in the tourney, took South Brunswick down a peg in a 19-4 loss last Friday, dropping the Vikings to 14-4.
"This is a level our kids haven’t seen, and it’s a level we want to try to get our program to," Viking head coach Mark Ziminski said. "It was 9-3 after the first quarter, but their athleticism, and their stick skills were just really superior to ours. Our kids worked as hard as they could, but they were just out-matched."
Senior midi Mike Valentino notched a hat trick against Ridgewood, and sophomore attackman Pete Sarangnese posted the other one.
Before the first round game, Ziminski had told his squad that 28th ranked Boonton was an ordinary team, and that they were beatable. It turned out that Ziminski was right, and the 37th seeded Vikings came away with the win, although there were a few tense minutes.
With about 10 minutes left in the game, the score was tied 5-5. Valentino, who finished the game with two goals and an assist, broke the stalemate. Pat Jenkins made it 7-5. Boonton tried to come back, but South held them to a final goal with a 1:20 left on the clock. The Vikings were able to hold possession after that score, and run out the clock.
"It was a great effort by our guys," Ziminski said. "We really controlled the tempo of the game, which is what we had to do. They had some very good offensive players, so it kept their offensive players from touching the ball as much as maybe they wanted to. Our kids really stuck to the game plan, and it worked out great for us."
Altogether, six different Vikings scored against Boonton. Jordan Asch had a goal and two assists. Mike Bacci, Ian Muchanic, and Saragnese also found the back of the net, and Jenkins and Saragnese had one assist each. In goal for the Vikings, Ryota Ishikawa had five saves.
The 2003 season is still not over. South Brunswick will travel to St. Joseph’s in Metuchen at 4 p.m. today (Thursday) for the finals of the third annual Greater Middlesex Conference Boys’ Lacrosse Tournament. The top seeded Falcons beat the second ranked Vikings 8-5 when the two teams clashed earlier this spring. But if the Falcons are expecting a cake-walk this time around, they will be disappointed.
"We’re much different than what they saw the second game of the season," Ziminski said. "We made a lot of changes after our first two losses, and since then we’ve won 14 out of 16 games."
The Vikings are heading into the title game with something to prove. They lost a division title when Christian Brothers Academy edged them 9-8 in overtime two weeks ago, and they are out of the states. The only thing still up for grabs is the county title.
"We’re very excited to play St. Joe’s for the GMC Championship," Ziminski said. "It’s a great rivalry. We won the first one, they won the second. This is the third one, and we’re prepared for them. We scouted them a couple of times, and we’ve had a couple of days to practice, so we’re ready to go. We’re very excited about it."

