BY WARREN RAPPLEYEA
Staff Writer
SCOTT PILLING staff Old Bridge’s Genevieve Vidas looks beyond the defense of North Brunswick’s Lauren Olmstead during Tuesday’s Knights’ win at Geick Park in Old Bridge. The Old Bridge High School boys lacrosse team is off to a 2-1 start as it seeks to rebound from a 5-10 mark a year ago.
Coach Anthony Lanzafama’s Knights opened the campaign with an exciting 9-8 victory over East Brunswick; in a game that saw Old Bridge take a 7-3 lead. A furious East Brunswick comeback knotted things up late in the game, but the Knights’ John Felicetti scored with just four ticks on the clock to earn the victory.
Following a 14-4 loss to powerful South Brunswick, Lanzafama’s team bounced back on Monday with an impressive 8-4 triumph over Howell.
“The keys for us this season have been improving our offense and cutting our goals against,” the third-year coach said. “So far we’ve been doing all right in terms of scoring, and while we’ve improved defensively I would like to see more consistency.”
The Old Bridge attack has been balanced. Midfielder Kenny Giordano leads the team in scoring with five goals and four assists. Up front, sophomore Ryan Olson has four goals and one assist, and Felicetti, a junior, and Sal Grillo have three goals apiece.
Midfielders Justin Zimmerlink, two goals and two assists, and Alex Tirso, one goal and three assists, have also played well. Tirso leads the Knights in ground balls, a key to keeping possession, with 26. Giordano is second with 13 ground balls to his credit.
“Controlling the ball is so important in lacrosse,” Lanzafama added. “When you control the ball, you can control the game. That’s an area where our team has been doing pretty well.”
Seniors Carmine Coppola and Pat Dunn anchor the defense, along with junior Christian Restreto. In goal, sophomore Mike Orabona has recorded 32 saves and has a save percentage of .550.
In addition, Old Bridge has been playing without two starters, attacker Sean Goldin and defender Billy Mambelli, both seniors. Goldin is expected back for the Knights game this afternoon at North Brunswick, while Mambelli is out indefinitely with a broken thumb.
Fortunately, Old Bridge has some depth for Lanzafama to work with. Brenton Mack comes off the bench to spell the forwards, while Nikhil Khanna, Zac Schwartz and Glenn Racioppi see time in the middle. Khanna has two assists, and Racioppi has scored once to help out the offense. Junior Tom Andretti gives the team reserve strength on the back line.
The coach said that he expects his team to get better with each game and his goal is to achieve a winning record. That would help the Knights qualify for the NJSIAA Group IV tourney; teams must have a .500 or better record at the end of play on May 14 to qualify.
“We have a lot of talent and experience and we’re expecting to win our share of games,” Lanzafama said.
“I think we can do well in the states and we also want to advance and go deep into the GMC [Greater Middlesex Conference] Tournament.”
Following the North Brunswick game Old Bridge returns home to face Wall on Saturday. Other high points on the Knights¿ schedule include a rematch at East Brunswick on April 19 and the Senior Night game against North Brunswick on May 3, which will be played at Geick Park starting at 7 p.m.
Notes… While the Knights’ 2-1 start has them feeling good about themselves, few people are questioning that South Brunswick looks like the top team in the area thus far.
With a strong showing against state power Don Bosco (a 12-9 loss at Rutgers University), and three impressive wins on their résumé, the Vikings are the team to beat.
While Rutgers Prep is expected to give the Vikings a run for their money, the rest of the local field may have trouble matching up with South Brunswick, who dominated third-ranked St. Joseph, 23-10, on Tuesday. In that match, the Vikings outshot the Falcons 40-18.
Today’s schedule should help sort out the rest of the GMC field thus far, with East Brunswick (1-3) hosting Edison (1-2), St. Joseph visiting A.L. Johnson, as well as the Knights’ game with the Raiders.(2-1).
East Brunswick got its first win on Tuesday, defeating winless J.P. Stevens, 9-2, with Nick Fusco and Andrew Mariani each recording two goals and an assist.
For the girls, the Old Bridge Lady Knights reaffirmed their status as the top team in the area with a 9-8 win over North Brunswick on Tuesday.
In a rematch of last year’s 10-9 quadruple overtime GMCT win for the Knights, Old Bridge got two goals apiece from Laura Rumolo, Amber Zimmerlink and Sam Kochie, while goalie Heather Kesselman made eight saves between the pipes.
With the win, Old Bridge improved to 3-0 on the young season, while North Brunswick, thought to be the Knights’ top competition in the GMC this year, fell to 0-2, after also dropping their opener, 14-4, to Hopewell Valley.
East Brunswick’s girls got their first win, 16-2, over South Plainfield on Tuesday, with Nicolle Donlon and Kirsten Gash leading the way with four and two goals, respectively.