BY VIN RAPOLLA
Staff Writer
After putting together a stellar regular season, the senior-laden Rumson-Fair Haven boys lacrosse team is looking to collect some tournament hardware over the next couple of weeks.
First up is the Shore Conference Tournament, where the Bulldogs have advanced to the semifinals on the heels of Monday’s 14-7 win over Jackson. That win earned them a shot at Toms River North (7-6) in yesterday’s semifinal. The Mariners knocked off third-seeded Howell, 10-8, on Monday in their quarterfinal match.
With a win yesterday, RFH would earn their first trip to an SCT final, where they would get the winner of the CBA-Manasquan semifinal matchup.
At 14-1 going into yesterday’s game, Rumson appears poised to take the program to the next level.
“We’ve really gotten the job done,” said head coach Jim Barbiere. “With a lot of seniors in the program, all of whom have played the last couple years, we’ve been able to implement more strategies.”
The third-year program has already enjoyed success since becoming a varsity program. With Barbiere as head coach since the inception of the program, the team has not seen a losing season and has managed to make it into postseason play all three years.
“We’ve definitely had an advantage, as a lot of the kids had played before on the club team,” said Barbiere, whose team was 10-2 two years ago and 14-5 last spring.
So, while the program is relatively new, many of this year’s starters are experienced lacrosse players who came in ready to compete at the high school level.
This year, they’re excelling at it.
The RFH team can attribute much of its success to its experienced attack players, led by a trio of seniors – Clark McIntyre, Robbie Atkinson, Dylan DeVesty – as well as junior Ford Sutphin, all of whom Barbiere refers to as prolific goal-scorers. McIntyre and Atkinson both have hit for 100 career points this season, becoming the first players to do it in school history.
McIntyre was also the dominant player in Monday’s win over Jackson, scoring five goals and assisting on another.
“They’ve all really been playing cohesively. They’ve got good chemistry,” said the coach. “They have a great sense of each other – the kind of thing you can’t coach.”
At midfield the Bulldogs have received solid play and leadership from seniors John Gasienica and Andrew Mumma, both of whom have a strong presence and are dependable on both sides the field.
Defensively the team is led by another school record-setter in junior goalie Shaun Lynch. Lynch just recorded his 300th career save this past week, while juniors Chris Sharkey and Dennis Seeman have also solidified one of the Shore’s top backfields, according to their coach.
It all adds up to Rumson’s best shot at a conference title. RFH was knocked out in the semis last year by Manasquan, who went on to lose to CBA in the inaugural SCT final. This year, the Bulldogs have their eyes on becoming the Shore’s second conference champ, while also getting through the first round of the state tournament for the first time.
“We’d like to get past there this year,” said Barbiere. “We know we can, we have some winnable games ahead, if things go our way we’ll get past the first round, and hopefully, into the finals.”
Barbiere is going to continue to stress many of the aspects of the game that has made the team successful thus far. The team’s hustle and heart, along with winning the ground ball and solid transitional play will all come in handy in their postseason run.
“All of the guys are contributing,” Barbieri said. “They believe they’re a special group.”
So far, they’re proving it too.