Vikes unfazed by Kelly’s loss

By: Ken Weingartner
   A season that some thought might turn forgettable has become one to remember for the South Brunswick boys lacrosse team.
   The Vikings saw their top returning scorer, Kory Kelly, lost for the year with a knee injury in the opening game of the campaign, but regrouped to claim the school’s second Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament championship Monday with a 9-5 win over East Brunswick.
   Kelly scored 52 goals last year as a sophomore and was named to the all-state squad. But players like Theo Smyk, Chris Laurita, Kevin Lally, Shane Foley and Zach Zenda picked up the scoring slack and propelled the Vikings to a title.
   "Everyone thought our season was over, but we never gave up," said Zenda, who scored three goals in the GMCT championship game. "People thought our season went down the drain, but everybody has been scoring and playing their hardest. People had to step up. We had to prove it wasn’t just a one-man team, and everyone picked up the slack."
   South Brunswick’s balanced attack was evident Monday against the Bears. In addition to Zenda’s three goals, Laurita tallied three times while Lally, Foley and Steve Fellouris each found the back of the cage once.
   Meanwhile, the Vikings’ defense held East Brunswick to two goals until there was 6:25 to play, building an 8-2 lead in the process.
   "Losing Kory was a huge loss," South Brunswick coach Mark Ziminski said. "Some teams would have used that as an excuse, but this team didn’t do that. That makes this all the sweeter."
   In addition to seeing Kelly sidelined, the Vikings overcame a stretch of illness and injuries to several other players along the way.
   "These guys battled through adversity all season," Ziminski said. "There was a virus going around where for two weeks we were down four guys every game. Guys like Jeff White played with 20 stitches for us and Andrew Fellouris played with four stitches in his head. This year was a great character check for the team. It really showed a lot about them as young men by the way they responded."
   As if those issues weren’t enough, South Brunswick entered the postseason having lost two consecutive games, but rebounded to beat defending GMCT champ North Brunswick in the semifinals in double overtime and then handed nemesis coach Matt Severino the loss in the title game. Severino had beaten the Vikings three times in championship tilts while at St. Joe’s.
   South Brunswick, which won the first GMCT in 2001, had lost in the finals the past four seasons.
   "It’s a year-to-year proposition," Ziminski said when asked if the Vikings got a monkey off their backs. "You just come into each year hoping that by the end you have a team that’s developed its potential. It’s a satisfying feeling. These guys worked hard all year and really got what they deserved."
   What they got, was a memorable season.