BOYS LACROSSE
By: Tim Falls
Lawrence High School boys varsity lacrosse coach Anthony Ammirata hates being cooped up.
That’s why the Cardinals have been out practicing in the parking lot.
The snow right before St. Patrick’s Day along with additional rain didn’t help already soggy fields across the county forcing many teams inside even when the sun was shining.
The Lawrence field conditions might not have been playable either, but Ammirata improvised.
The Cardinals’ coach utilized the blacktop in front of the school instead of crowding inside the gymnasium.
"I try to avoid it at all cost," said Ammirata. "I refuse to play in the gym. We’ve only been forced into it once."
High school lacrosse isn’t an indoor sport, even though there is a professional version of the indoor game. Ammirata wants his players to use the space they’d have on an open field instead of training in the limited confines of the gym.
"We’ve only been out on the field three or four times," said Ammirata, "but we’ve had a silver lining. We’ve been able to play on the parking lot where the busses drop off the students. It’s not as wide as we need, but it’s long enough."
The parking lot, while better for Ammirata than the gym, is not the same as a lacrosse field, so players had to adjust and deal with things like shin splints from playing on the pavement. Nonetheless, the parking lot does give Lawrence the room it needs to prepare for the season.
"We’re working pretty hard," said Ammirata. "We want to compete game in and game out. To do that we, we want to improve with each and every practice."
Lawrence’s attack is one of the team’s strengths. Matt Watson, David Kollner and David Schindewolf all return to lead the Cardinals’ assualt on the opposition’s goal.
"Our attack is strong," said Ammirata. "All three our back and they combined for over 100 goals for us. Their chemistry is very good."
Peter Boucher, Jim Gorski, Steve Sikora, Jake Ball, Ryan Goodstein, Colin Anderson, Andrew Borajkiewicz, Justin DeMarco and Dan Cohl make up the midfield Ammirata described as strong and fast.
Lawrence defenders include Tamai Young, Colin Barker, Raffaele Albanese, Ryan Schmid and Steve Parsons, while the Cardinals’ goalie is James McIntosh.
Ammirata is assisted by Peter James.
The Cardinals open their season with a home game against Allentown at 3:45 p.m. on Tuesday.
Along with their work in the parking lot, Lawrence has played scrimmages against Toms River South and Pennington and is scheduled to take on Holy Cross on Friday.
"We have a very veteran group," said Ammirata. "All of them have given a lot of hard work. I think they feel confident."
After opening against Allentown, Lawrence faces West Windsor-Plainsboro North on April 10, West Windsor-Plainsboro South on April 12 and Jefferson Township on April 14. The following week the Cardinals take on Northern Burlington, get a rematch against Allentown and play Robbinsville.
Ammirata said his team is confident, and wants them to focus on each quarter they play.
"They have to take the game quarter by quarter," said Ammirata. "Win each quarter and win games that way."

