Brookdale Community College’s athletic program has another Region XIX-winning program. The men’s lacrosse team joined the expanding group of teams that are garnering championships.
It took only two years for coach Steve Heller to bring a lacrosse title to the campus.
Brookdale defeated the County College of Morris, 10-9, on April 27 in Lincroft to win the Region XIX title.
Morris was the top seed and jumped out to a 4-0 lead on the Jersey Blues. The early deficit, however, did not concern Heller.
“Our biggest thing is that our kids compete,” he remarked. “They are effort guys. Up and down [the lineup], they give you the effort.
“Four goals down, they don’t quit,” he added. “They have the heart. They go hard for 60 minutes.”
Morris would find that out. Brookdale would score seven straight goals to take a 7-4 lead. The Titans would bounce back to tie it at 7-7, but the Blues answered with three straight to take a 10-7 lead and then held off a late Titan rally to capture the championship.
Goalie John Tanner (Rumson-Fair Haven High School), who was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, made 13 saves for the Blues.
Ryan Olsen (Old Bridge) scored four goals, and John Felicetti (Old Bridge) had four points on three goals and an assist. Kenny Bogard (Brick Township) tallied two goals and one assist. Defender Sean Cunningham (Christian Brothers Academy) had one of the highlight goals of the final. He carried the ball the length of the field in 13 seconds to score a goal.
Brookdale was No. 2 in the tournament and defeated Del-Tech Terry (Del.), 18-9, in its semifinal on April 23.
Tanner and Cunningham, Shore Conference stars in high school, are two of the sophomores who are the core of the championship team. They came aboard the Brookdale lacrosse program when it was a club team and took a chance they could help build the team into a winner in just two years. And they did.
Ethan Rivera (Old Bridge), Jim Stonack (Howell), David Nunez, Dave Osterberg (Old Bridge), Anthony Aponte (Freehold Township) and Jim McCormack (Allentown) are the other sophomores who helped build the program during their stay.Heller recalled that when he took the program over two years ago, there was a lot of interest on campus. He had 17 players in 2008 for the club team and expanded it to 25-30 in 2009 for the team’s first official season.
“We hit the ground running,” said Heller. “You need 25-30 players on the team to have effective practices. It prepares you better.”
Heller said he expected the first year to be difficult.
“Junior college is a big step up from Shore Conference lacrosse,” said Heller, pointing out that the Blues played games against teams from Long Island, upstate New York and Baltimore, which are hotbeds for the sport.
The Blues went 3-10 in 2009 but did reach the Region final. The foundation led by Tanner and Cunningham was there. With a talented freshman class coming in for the 2010 season to join the sophomores, all the ingredients were there for a big turnaround.
Brookdale completed its season 9-6 overall. After winning the Region title, they lost to the No. 1-ranked Division III junior college in the country, Nassau, 20-5, in the District 2 playoff to earn a berth in the NJCAA National Championships.
That’s one more hurdle that the Blues will have to clear. But for now, establishing a Region championship team in just two varsity seasons is rewarding in itself.
Dave Zoni, a freshman who lives in Jackson, led the Blues in scoring this spring with 45 points on 27 goals and 18 assists. Mike Duddy, a freshman from Monsignor Donovan High School, scored 20 goals and had 10 assists for 30 points.
Olsen had 23 points (19 goals, four assists) and Robert Benedickson (Rumson- Fair Haven) tallied 21 points (12 goals and eight assists).
Dave Koellner (Lawrence) and Felicetti contributed 14 and 13 goals.
Tanner made 158 saves during the season and allowed fewer than 10 goals a game.