Vikings rout East Brunswick for lacrosse title, 9-5.
By: Ken Weingartner
Anthony Osbourne says that lacrosse is life.
On Monday night, life was good for South Brunswick.
Playing before a large and energetic home crowd, the Vikings snapped a four-game losing streak in Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament championship games by defeating East Brunswick, 9-5, in convincing fashion.
Chris Laurita and Zach Zenda both scored three goals and South Brunswick’s defense smothered the Bears’ attack to claim the school’s second GMCT title and first since the inaugural tourney in 2001. Kevin Lally had a goal and five assists while goalkeeper Luke Zabel made 13 saves.
Zenda and Laurita scored goals in the opening four minutes to give the Vikings a 2-0 lead. Steve Fellouris and Laurita tallied in the final 90 seconds of the quarter as South Brunswick built a 4-1 advantage and never looked back.
"Getting off to a fast start settled us down," said Osbourne, who with Andrew Fellouris is one of the team’s captains. "That was one of the goals we talked about before the game. We wanted to make sure we scored early and got ahead, won faceoffs, controlled transition and played good team defense. Defense wins championships.
"This means a lot to us," he added. "We’ve been in the championship game every year we’ve been on varsity and I’m glad to be a captain on the winning team. I can’t even explain it to you. This is No. 1. Lacrosse is life."
South Brunswick, which led 8-2 with 6:49 to play, held the Bears’ top three scoring threats without a point for more than 41 minutes. Tommy Hill, Chris Ciabattone and Jay Jackson, who suffered a leg injury late in the contest, played key roles in keep East Brunswick’s output to a minimum.
"Our defense did a great job taking away their best shooters," Vikings coach Mark Ziminski said. "They were able to take away a lot of what (East Brunswick) wanted to do. They were frustrated; it was a great defensive effort. Defense is key in championship games."
While the defense was doing its job, South Brunswick’s offense kept the pressure on the Bears. The Vikings might have had a good feeling after Steve Fellouris’ tally, which Ziminski called "one of the slower goals of the year," gave them a 3-1 lead.
"It was an entertaining goal," said Ziminski, who could be seen wearing a wide grin after Fellouris’ shot found the upper-left corner. "We told them to shoot high and that’s what he did. That was a big goal. To have a two-goal lead is huge at the beginning of a game."
South Brunswick, which brought a 13-4 record into its Group IV state tournament game Wednesday against Southern Regional, defeated defending GMCT champion North Brunswick in the semifinals and got a measure of revenge against first-year East Brunswick coach Matt Severino, who had beaten the Vikings three times in title games while at St. Joe’s.
"I think we showed we can play well," Lally said. "This was a really important win for us. There were tons of fans here and a great atmosphere. We want to keep it going."
With lacrosse being life, it’s too good to stop.

