There may come a time when someone else holds the career goals record for the Freehold Township High School girls lacrosse program. For now, though, Alex Marino is happy that she is the new owner of the career mark.
Freehold Township High School lacrosse coach Brittany Scott (l) congratulates Alex Marino after Marino became the school’s all-time goal scoring leader. “It’s a honor, I worked very hard for it,” said Marino, a senior who is headed to Monmouth University to continue her lacrosse career. “To be the player who came out of the program with the most goals is kind of cool.”
Marino not only broke the previous mark of 197 career goals which had been set by her former teammate Maddie Comfort in 2009, but she reached a milestone by becoming the first Freehold Township player to score 200 goals.
Marino’s celebration, though, was muted by her team’s 12-11 loss in double overtime to St. John Vianney High School in a Shore Conference non-division game on April 17.
Marino’s 200th career goal came on a penalty shot in overtime and enabled the Patriots to tie the game.
“It couldn’t have been more stressful,” she said about her 200th tally, her seventh goal of the game.
Marino said she can recall when she was playing as a freshmen and looking in the newspapers and seeing the names of lacrosse players who were scoring six, seven and eight goals in a game and thinking “how incredible” those girls had to be.
Now hers is the name that some up-andcoming player is reading about in the newspapers. She said that she honestly did not think she would become that kind of player.
Marino also holds the school’s singleseason mark of 74 goals, set in 2009. But she is proudest of the career record.
“The career record is more important because you have to be able to be consistent over a career and not just have one good season,” she said.
Marino is happy the goal scoring record is behind her, saying that a weight has been lifted off her shoulders.
Marino’s father, Joe, introduced his daughter to the sport when she was very young. She said her father and mother, Susan, and her brother, Joe Jr., have encouraged, motivated and supported her throughout her career. They can take equal pride in the records she has set, including the milestone of 200 career goals.
“My family has always been there,” she said.