First things first. East Brunswick High School’s boys lacrosse team would like nothing more than to win a state championship. But the Bears are very much aware they have yet to capture a tournament match.
“This is a program which has had its share of success,” said fifth-year coach Matt Severino. “But we can’t move to the next level until we can hang with some of the perennially good teams. Winning a state tournament game would be a good start.”
Another positive would be playing a competitive match against St. Joseph High School of Metuchen, one of those formidable foes and a member of the Greater Middlesex Conference. The Falcons are aiming at capturing another state title this spring, and how competitive East Brunswick is against St. Joe’s would be a measuring stick as to what progress the program is making.
“We’re 9-5 now,” said Severino. “That’s an improvement on the 6-8 record we had last year. We know the road to any post-season success leads through St. Joe’s. But I’m convinced that if we play up to our capability, we have the best chance of any team in our conference of beating them.”
East Brunswick had an opportunity to gauge just how improved it is since the season began when it met South Brunswick in the GMC Tournament semifinals Tuesday. The Vikings are the only team besides St. Joseph to beat the Bears, and they need a victory to gain another shot at the Falcons.
Record aside, this has been a season in which the Bears have rebounded with what has been their staple on the field: defense. They return only four seniors who play regularly, but each is key to East Brunswick’s success. Pete Sorrento, a senior midfielder, leads the team in points with 32, including 22 goals, while Tommy Spiotta, Ryan Mc- Spedon and Eric Brown have provided leadership on defense, attack and midfield. Both McSpedon and Spiotta are expected to play in college, while Sorrento is headed to Muhlenberg to play football.
Their departure after this year will be a loss, but the strength of East Brunswick is its powerful underclassmen. In fact, after Sorrento’s team point leadership, five of the next six leading scorers are juniors. Milton Kohlepp, attack, has registered 27 points with 22 goals, followed by Mike Spiotta, midfield, who has notched 24 points with 12 goals.
Jared Lynch, midfield, has accumulated 23 points with 10 goals, sophomore midfielder Mike Summerer has 22 points with 13 goals, Zack Gala, a junior, has 16 points including 13 goals, and Jimmy Wendell, attack, has 12 points and 10 goals.
The goaltending has been the primary responsibility of Ian Meyer, a junior, who is backed by sophomore Brandon Fink and freshman John Henry Glascock.
Other members of the varsity who have seen action include quality defensemen Kyle McSpedon (junior), Matt Tocco (junior) and Jake Wojtowicz, (sophomore); midfielders Jason Muniz (freshman), Ben Resch (sophomore), Shane MacNiven (sophomore), Jake Krantz (freshman) and Kyle Winters (junior). Also on attack are juniors Mike Manning and Zack Gala.
“At this point in the season,” said Severino, ‘we’d like to play with a degree of consistency, but that hasn’t been the case. We’ve stayed close with some good teams, and against others we should have no trouble beating, we’ve suffered letdowns.
“The next few games will determine what kind of progress we’ve made,” he concluded.