Boys lacrosse program has taken step forward
By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
Ryan O’Leary’s Saturday was a reminder of what games used to be like for him, and it was also an indication of how far he has seen the Allentown High School boys lacrosse program come.
O’Leary, the senior goalie, made 22 saves — a number that ranked him tops for the day in the state of New Jersey — and the Redbirds hung with a North Jersey Group I power, Kinnelon, before falling, 10-5.
”Being a senior and seeing Allentown lacrosse grow, I feel like the better you get as a team, the more fun it gets,” said O’Leary, a four-year starter for the Redbirds. “The more you accomplish, the better the lacrosse you are playing. I enjoy being on the team so much more than years past because of how much we mesh. It sounds too good to be true, but it’s true.”
It wasn’t so long ago that O’Leary routinely was coming up with 20-some saves in games — and it wouldn’t matter. The Redbirds won just three games his sophomore year, and those first two seasons of high school were lean years before the tide turned last year when Allentown went 7-12 with just two seniors on the squad. They came on strong in the second half of the season with wins in six of their final 10 games.
”Freshman year, we had Matt Mueller, a DI commit so the idea was to get the ball to him and I’ll try to stop a few shots,” O’Leary said. “The next year, we were a little worse, then junior year came along and we had a solid team. Once we came to this year, without losing any big players, we know what we need to do to get our job done.”
After an opening-season loss to Notre Dame by a goal, the Redbirds won six straight before falling to Kinnelon. At 6-2, they entered a key game against West Windsor-Plainsboro South scheduled for Tuesday. Already, Allentown owns its first win in program history over Princeton High.
”Winning against Princeton was definitely a great accomplishment for the program,” O’Leary said. “I feel like we came into the game looking to win it and looking to have as few goals scored on us as we could.”
With non-conference opponents like Kinnelon, it’s clear that they are trying to raise their competitive level.
”Playing against a northern team is a step up from what we have around here,” O’Leary said. “Ultimately what we pulled from that game is we have to play all four quarters to take the next step and not just beat the weaker teams. Playing against Kinnelon and losing to Notre Dame shows we have to push for all four quarters or there’s not going to be a good outcome after those four quarters.”
O’Leary has been doing his usual part in the cage. He got his start as a goalie in sixth grade after being introduced to lacrosse by a neighbor. He has developed into an annual leader in saves. He recorded 210 in both his sophomore and junior seasons, and he has 106 saves through Saturday’s game.
”I feel like I’m so much more confident in the cage and I can command the defense,” O’Leary said. “I know exactly what I have to have them do to stop them and get the ball to the opposite side of the field.”
Having a veteran like O’Leary takes a burden off the offense. They know they have a reliable goalie to run their defense.
”He’s a four-year starter in goal,” said AHS head coach Michael Kays. “He’s taken his share of bumps as a freshman, starting and playing against some of these good schools. Freshman year, I was happy he was a brave kid willing to sit back there and take those shots.
”He’s become a leader and he’s the reason we’ve been able to stay in a lot of games over the past couple years. The last couple games, we haven’t had as much trouble scoring goals. We’ve had more firepower.”
Allentown has better balance, and its offense has become more effective led by another senior, Stefan Pappas, who had three goals and an assist in the Kinnelon game. Pappas sits second in the state at 55 points and is third in goals scored with 36.
”Stefan is playing extremely well,” Kays said. “Along with the goals, he’s been wracking up the assists as well. He has a good head about it. Even when a defense concentrates on him, he’s able to get other kids opportunities.”
Brian McNutt and Kevin Singler had a goal apiece in the Kinnelon game, Justin Pepe and Dakota Wojcik had an assist apiece and Michael Adler, a tri-captain along with O’Leary and Pappas, led the defense with nine ground balls. This year began with a different attitude among all the Redbirds with so much back from a year ago.
”Coming into last year, we knew what we needed to do to get it done, but weren’t sure we could come together enough to get it done,” O’Leary said. “This year, we mesh together so much better, it’s like a machine. Our team motto is family, and we’re that close. We’re looking to keep doing good things this season.”
Added Kays: “The juniors and seniors are a group that saw the bottom part of it. Having been on a weaker team, a lot were starters as freshmen and sophomores. They put a lot of work in. Our weight room attendance was better than ever. They played winter and summer leagues. My message was to hit the ground running. We were a better team on the first day of practice than any given point last year.”
Along with higher expectations, O’Leary feels there is higher pressure. It’s not good enough to just go out and play, the Redbirds are holding each other accountable to ensuring that they play well.
”I think having everybody on the team trust everyone else, just having that, I feel like there’s more pressure on everyone as an individual because everyone is counting on them to get it done,” O’Leary said. “If everybody does good, the team does good. If someone makes a mistake, it won’t go unnoticed.”
The Redbirds are intent on building the best season in program history. They are off to a good start. After their first loss, they won six straight, and they are hoping they can put together another big run after they fell to Kinnelon.
”After losing to Kinnelon, the streak is over,” O’Leary said. “We just want to start that streak back up and we’re trying to win on the way out. We’re trying to finish this season with as much of a bang as we can.”