The Manalapan High School girls lacrosse team is no longer the pushover squad in the Shore Conference A North Division. There was a time when the Braves gauged success by the goals they scored or by their margin of defeat.
All of that has changed in 2010 because a group of seniors took their lumps as underclassmen and are now seasoned veterans looking for some payback, and because of some talented underclassmen, Manalapan earned a berth in the Shore Conference Tournament field for the first time in the program’s five years, and the Braves are headed to the NJSIAA state tournament for the first time.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” Coach Kerry Eisman said about the 2010 campaign. “I am definitely surprised by the season. I thought we would be competitive, that was our goal.”
What made the Braves more than just competitive this spring was the off-season work the girls put in to improve their play, plus newfound confidence.
“We won our last three games at the end of last year and that gave the girls a lot of confidence,” Eisman said. “They did a lot things on their own” in the off-season.
“This year has been extremely satisfying so far in a lot of ways because it has mirrored the hard work the girls have put in over the last three years,” he said.
Senior captains Olivia Musto (attack), Amanda McBride (midfield), Sam Ebner (attack), Logan Stieglitz (defense) and Chandler Mumolie (defense) have been “really terrific” as leaders, Eisman said.
Mumolie is the only senior who is a twoyear starter; all of the other seniors are three- and four-year starters.
Eisman said seniors Cara Lapolla (midfield), Alyssa Schioppo (defense) and Christian Lovejoy (defense) have led the team like captains themselves.
Manalapan’s experience is well balanced from attack to defense. The team’s keeper, senior Carly Cirangle, has been tremendous. She ranks fourth in the Shore Conference in saves (127) and is tops in save percentage (.648).
Cirangle has earned the trust of her teammates and is a big reason why the Braves are 7-7 after winning one and four games in the last two seasons.
The seniors have set a fine example for the underclassmen who are getting their introduction to lacrosse from the older high school players (the township has no feeder program and the girls learn the sport as freshmen).
“We have a great core of sophomores,” Eisman said.
Alison Carhart and Debra Razzino are the leaders of the sophomore class that is the future of Manalapan lacrosse. Carhart led the Braves in scoring as a freshman and has 36 goals thus far in 2010. Razzino is a midfielder who is a scorer and a playmaker. She has scored 19 goals and added 14 assists this
spring.
Junior Christina Minneci has proven to be an outstanding offensive player. She has also scored 36 goals and has added four assists.
Musto is Manalapan’s top playmaker with 17 assists to go along with 20 goals.
“We have a multifaceted offense with five dangerous scorers, but we do have other players who are dangerous. They share the ball and play for each other. There is no selfishness,” Eisman said.
Olivia Grasso, another member of the talented sophomore class, is the team’s stopper on defense. She will cover the opposition’s top scorer like a blanket. Junior Pindsy Peterson has been dependable on defense.
The Braves received the No. 14 seed in the Shore Conference Tournament and lost to No. 3 seed Manasquan, 16-8, on May 5. Minneci and Carhart each scored three goals for the Braves.
Next up for Manalapan will be its first taste of the state tournament, which begins on May 14.
In addition to the improvement the Braves have shown from 2009, what has pleased Eisman the most is that the players have continued to improve during the 2010 season.
Proof of that in-season progress is the second time around against the Shore Conference A North Division’s best teams. The Braves lost to A North champion Freehold Township 21-10 in the first meeting between the teams this spring and 12-9 in the rematch with the Patriots. Colts Neck beat the Braves 19-9 in the teams’ first meeting and needed a late goal to edge the Braves, 12-11, in the rematch.