Jasonowski, penalties halt Vikes

By: Carolyn M. Hartko
   South Brunswick High School lacrosse players and fans are wishing they never heard the name Sean Jasonowski. He’s the Pennington player who scored four goals in Tuesday night’s game under the lights at South Brunswick, including the one that sent the game into overtime, and the game-winner as well. The Raiders had not been able to beat the Vikings since 1999, so the 10-9 overtime victory made for a happy bus ride home.
   With two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Viking sophomore Kory Kelly broke an 8-8 tie when he muscled his way through the Raider defense for an unassisted goal. That’s when the Vikings lost their composure, picking up back-to-back penalties, one for 30 seconds and one for a minute. That left the home team playing a man down during a critical time in the game.
   "They deserved it, and we didn’t," Viking head coach Mark Ziminski said. "And I hope we learn from this that we have to play 48 minutes of competitive lacrosse. We were very stupid at the end of this game, and you can only call so many timeouts to stop that. The players have to realize, you’re up by a goal, you don’t go picking up penalties. So, we didn’t deserve it, plain and simple."
   The late penalties were more surprising considering that it was Pennington that initiated most of the rough play. They had several players that picked up two penalties during the game, and they were the ones most often at the man-down disadvantage.
   "They have a lot of football player/lacrosse players, and we just have to be able to handle that," Ziminski said. "And I think once we understood that, we physically did okay. But my concern is that we didn’t come to play for whatever reason."
   The two sides traded goals during the opening stanza, bringing the score to 4-4 at the break. After eight minutes of scoreless play in the second period, Danny Niemczyk broke the stalemate, giving the Vikings a slight edge. But Adam Toltzis knotted things up again 30 seconds later, and Tim Liwosz put the Raiders on top 6-5 about two minutes before the half. Pennington’s Alex Abud notched the only goal in the third quarter, and the Vikings entered the final period down by two.
   Ian Muchanic cut the gap in half at the seven-minute mark in the fourth off an assist from Pete Saragnese. Niemczyk picked up his fourth and fifth goals of the game 30 seconds apart, putting the Vikings back in front 8-7. Jasonowski answered with his second goal of the game, and the score was once more even (8-8). After Kelly’s goal, Jasonowski completed his hat trick during the man-down situation with just nine seconds left in regulation. The game-winner was put in with 15 seconds left in the four minute sudden-death overtime period.
   Niemczyk led South’s offense with five goals, and Kelly and Muchanic had two apiece. Saragnese and Theo Smyk were each credited with two assists, and Nick Gazzale had one. Ziminski is still looking for a few more serious attackers to emerge.
   The Vikings will be at West Windsor-Plainsboro North today (Thursday), and host Jackson on Saturday with an 11 a.m. start. Next Tuesday will be a replay of the Greater Middlesex Conference final with South Brunswick traveling to St. Joseph’s.
   NOTES: Senior keeper Matt Rubel made several good saves during overtime, finishing with a total of eight for the game.