PRINCETON: Boys lacrosse previews

Montgomery
    Head Coach: Tim Sullivan, ninth year
    Last year: 20-3, Somerset County Tournament, Bianchi Division champions, Group III state finalist.
   Key returning players: Rudy Butler (Sr.), Tripp Garinger (Sr.), Greg Ives (Sr.), David Lafaman (Jr.), Cameron Napoliello (Jr.), Mark Treichler (Jr.), Mark Yetter (Jr.).
   Top newcomers: Derek Moore (Sr.), Troy Gebhart (Jr.), Thomas Hackett (Jr.), Amo Hare (Jr.), James Minnis (Jr.), Carter Oakley (Jr.), Jared Simmons (Jr.), Aaron Skoultchi (Jr.), Dylan Talarick (Jr.), Eric Wyluda (Jr.), Colin Geary (So.), Dan Moses (So.), Connor Oltmans (So.), Jeff Garinger (Fr.), Alex Mikrut (Fr.), Kevin Wanke (Fr.).
   Coach’s Thoughts: We’re very young. We only have three seniors. We lost the majority of the team last year. It’s going to be a tough year. Our goal is to get better as the year goes on. Young kids have to play key roles. It’s just getting that experience and getting their confidence up, which will be tough with our schedule. Greg Ives and Rudy Butler are our big returners. We picked up two out of state teams. Highland Park (Texas) is state champion. We made the schedule a lot tougher. Our kids have to learn how to handle pressure.
Princeton
    Head Coach: Peter Stanton, 14th year
   Last year: 4-10
   Key returning players: Jeff Goeke (Sr.), Pat Hoerner (Sr.), Nick Hughes (Sr.), Alex Meadow (Sr.), Dario Presepe (Sr.), Allen Bryant (Jr.), Doug Bryant (Jr.), Jay Dwyer (Jr.), Jordan Metro (Jr.), Mike Olentine (Jr.), Joe Sandford (Jr.), Brian Vieten (Jr.) Robbie Dower (So.), Mike Hellstern (So.), Mike Irving (So.).
   Top newcomers: Sam Afran (Jr.), Alex Henry (Jr.), Tom Borchert (So.), Griffin Peck (So.), Owen Diver (So.), Tom Sacchetti (Fr.).
   Coach’s Thoughts: We are looking to bounce back. Our scrimmages have been mixed. We’ve had some good results. We’ve had some struggles. Hopefully they’ll help. I feel like we’re a very athletic team. We have some players that can be leaders. If we can learn to play the game together pretty quickly, we feel like we could be a pretty strong team.
WW-P North
    Head Coach: Steve Czelusniak, fifth year
   Last year: 12-6
   Key returning players: AJ Reichert (Sr.), Brad States (Sr.), Leonard Bellezza (Jr.), Killian Brakel (Jr.), Dan Brzezynski (Jr.), Drew Kenavan (Jr.), Andrew Lalli (Jr.), Todd Petrone (Jr.), Marc Raziano (Jr.), Andrew Washuta (Jr.), Brandon Worrall (Jr.).
   Top newcomers: Jacob Basch (Sr.), Brandon Byrd (Sr.), Drew Eccleston (Sr.), James Komianos (Sr.), Timi Owoh (Sr.), Rob White (Sr.), Michael Leahy (Jr.), Evan Pettus (Jr.).
   Coach’s Thoughts: I think last year I was very pleasantly surprised. We had a lot of sophomores starting for us and we had a pretty successful season. I’m hoping that will continue. Nothing is guaranteed. It’s reassuring to know the entire starting defense is returning and hopefully that year of experience has served them well. Right now, we’re going through the learning process with the offense. Ernie Park is only one guy we lost, but losing him to graduating, he was a big initiator of our offense. Defense is a strength now. Offense is a question mark now. We’re playing in the CVC and there’s plusses and minuses to that. We open up with Montgomery and that will be a big test right out of the gate. The inaugural MCT should be exciting.
WW-P South
    Head Coach: Matt Foret, third year
   Last year: 13-6
   Key returning players: Erik Breitenbach (Sr.), Evan Burke (Sr.), Matt Bright (Sr.), Connor Farrell (Sr.), Stephen Joseph (Sr.), Chris Leyden (Sr.), Andrew Neiffer (Sr.), David Twamley (Sr.), Eric Valero (Sr.), Jack Dennehy (Jr.), Brandon Lerner (Jr.), Henry MacQueen (Jr.), Chris Matthews (Jr.), Matt Padd (Jr.), Bijan Matthews (So.), Alex Rohrbach (So.), (Jr.).
   Top newcomers: Braden Friscia (Sr.), Logan Otremba (Sr.), Ryan Brazel (Jr.), Zack Krackower (Jr.), Jeff Matthews (Jr.), Dan Nesson (Jr.), Casey Tosches (Jr.), Chris So (So.).
   Coach’s Thoughts: We have quite a number of returning players from last year. We had a pretty successful season last year. We have four kids who have been on varsity since they were freshmen and bunch of other kids on varsity for a year or two. Out of 20, we have maybe 15 players that were on varsity last year so we definitely have a lot of experience which we obviously think will be beneficial. We have high expectations to have a good year this year. I think the guys gained a lot of confidence from making it to the state semifinals. It’s going to be a little different this year with the CVC forming a special league. I think in the long run that’s going to be a good thing. It brings some more natural rivals to play for a championship.
Hun School
    Coaches: Bill Quirk, first year
   Last year: 11-9
   Key returning players: Harry Blackburn (Sr.), Jeremy Borden (Sr.), Michael Campellone (Sr.), Chi Chuang (Sr.), Derek DelCore (Sr.), Brendan Gallagher (Sr.), Patrick Kirnan (Sr.), Christopher Loy (Sr.) Zach Martin (Sr.), Stephen Norman (Sr.), Geoffrey Rogers (Sr.), Sam Rosenberg (Sr.), Sawyer Deitz (Jr.), Patrick Piasecki (Jr.), Peter Blackburn (So.), Brennan Foley (So.), Daniel Janick (So.), Adam Mantell (So.), Scott Munley (So.), Brian Patriarca (So.), Will Sweetland (So.).
   Top newcomers: William Brundage (Sr.), James Nawn (So.), Steffen Gratch (Fr.).
   Coach’s Thoughts: It’s ironic. The strength of our season could be the weakness. We’re predominately senior heavy. As a coach, either your seniors get senioritis and check out or they can come back to reality and realize this is it, this is their last shot and put everything into it. We didn’t lose much. A lot of these guys got a lot of work on the field. We only had three seniors last year, so varsity game time is nothing new to them. As coaches, we’ve just been preparing them for the first game against Hill and not looking past that. We’re taking it one game at a time.
Princeton Day
    Head Coach: Rob Tuckman, third year
   Last year: 5-12
   Key returning players: Dan Altman (Sr.), Mike Darrar (Sr.), Frankie Howard (Sr.), Max Popkin (Sr.), Ben Stadulis (Sr.), Will Sword (Sr.), Nick Vik (Sr.), Theo Casey (Jr.), Ian Crowell (Jr.), Ethan Geltzer (Jr.), Chris Gibson (Jr.), Brooks Herr (Jr.), Christos Phillipou (Jr.), Boris Schkuta (Jr.), Iain Alexandridis (So.), Roger Mittnacht (So.), Dan Reynolds (So.), Aaron Shavel (So.), (So.).
   Top newcomers: Nick Rossi (Jr.), Will Kearney (So.), Michael DaVilla (Fr.).
   Coach’s Thoughts: We just came back from a week down south. One of the things that I think is really great is the team gelled. This is one of those special teams where you don’t have one superstar, but can rely on everybody. Every kid is stepping into an important role offensively and defensively. Last year we had four or five freshmen in the mix. They’re now sophomores. We’re young. That’s a very strong class for us. We continually have a strong junior class and I’m real pleased with the leadership of our senior class as well. I think the schedule looks great. We’re seeing a lot of those CVC teams which is a little different than what we’ve seen in the past. I think we match up well with the CVC teams. We almost have dual membership. We’re still competing in the Bianchi/Curcio. Unlike last year where there were some programs that should have been in upper division, we are scheduled this year in a much better way. I expect us to have a fairly strong season this year.