Boys team looks to step up
By Michael Stern, Special Writer
The South Brunswick High School girls lacrosse team is on a fantastic run.
Last year the Vikings ended with a record of 19-2 and an undefeated season against division rivals. They have been the GMC division and tournament champions for the past two years.
This year the squad looks to make it three championships in a row for the GMC division. They have a fantastic chance to accomplish the feat too. With much of the team returning to play in their senior year the Vikings will be the favorites in the division.
The leadership of the team will come from their senior captains. Midfielder Jenna Bussiere led the team last year with 62 goals and 16 assists. Kristen Cooney and Dana Piemonte will be two other veterans who will help steer the team in the right direction. Goalie Blaire Nathanson is the final senior captain. She will return this season for her final year. She has had a fantastic career with a record of 33-5.
Angie Goff is another senior who looks to build off of her 37 goal and 23 assist performance last year.
John Coppola is entering his fourth season as head coach. He has a record of 40-15 as the leader of the Vikings. Coppola believes this team is the team to beat in the GMC for this season.
”We have a veteran squad that has great leadership.” Coppola said, “This team has great talent coming from the JV team, too. I think there is a strong chance that we can win the championship again.”
All things considered, the South Brunswick Vikings look like a team that could win a third consecutive division title. Don’t be surprised to see these girls on top of the rankings for years to come.
Boys team looks to step up
There are some skeptics out in the sports world that believe when a lacrosse team loses two players who, combined, scored almost 80 goals, the team they left will have an off year.
South Brunswick High School boys lacrosse coach Mark Ziminski hopes that losing Taylor Denno (52 goals) and Brian Foley (27 goals) will not have much of an effect on this Viking team.
”We have a lot of guys looking to score goals for us this season,” Ziminski said, “We are trying to do it by committee. We’re not asking one guy to score 50 or 60 goals for us. I would be much happier if we have six guys scoring 20 goals.”
Last season the Vikings finished in second place in the Greater Middlesex Conference with a 12-5 overall record. Ziminski hopes to improve on that this year.
”Every year our goal is to win the division and the GMC championship,” Ziminski said, “The number one team last year had a great year and we’re hoping to knock them off.”
This preseason has shown Ziminski the true strengths and weaknesses of this team. With the losses of Foley and Denno, the Vikings are stronger on defense than on offense.
Seniors Justin Berger, Carlos Roman, and Kenny Keenan are all athletes who anchor the defense for South Brunswick.
Ziminski hopes that the senior leadership on this tem will help out the offense. He says senior captain Riley Klebor is really having a good spring.
”(Klebor) has really been playing as hard as anyone else on the team,” Ziminski explained, “He gives 100 percent effort no matter what which is something you really like to see in a team captain.”
Ziminski has high hopes for this season. He actually has three distinct goals in mind: Win the GMC championship, win the GMC tournament championship, and get to the finals of the group four championship.
While the road will be tough for the Vikings this year it is a manageable one as this team looks to build off of last year’s performance.

