With four wins in its first five games, Old Bridge High School’s boys lacrosse team is off to a strong start as it looks to make its way back to the Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) Tournament finals for the third straight season.
The lone loss came against longtime rival St. Joseph High School of Metuchen by a 15-4 count. The host Falcons jumped out to an early lead, and the Knights could not recover. Old Bridge cut St. Joe’s lead to 7-4 early in the third period, but that was as close as it would get.
“That was a game that just got away from us,” Old Bridge coach Andrew Borriello said. “We fell behind early and we were never able to recover. [St. Joe’s] wanted this game, and they came out ready to play. We can’t let that happen again.” The two teams have a bit of a history. Two years ago, Old Bridge knocked the Falcons, who had won five successive GMC crowns, out of the tournament in the semifinals. The Knights went on to defeat Monroe Township High School for the title. Last season, Old Bridge downed St. Joe’s during the regular season, but the Falcons turned the tables and took a 7-6 win in the GMC championship match.
Old Bridge opened the campaign with three wins in a row, starting with an opening day victory, 5-3, over Scotch Plains- Fanwood High School, as Sean Olsen led the way with three goals and Thomas Francy stopped 11 shots in goal.
Ryan Bannon’s five-goal effort paced an 11-3 success against Governor Livingston High School, and Bannon and Olsen scored three goals apiece in a 12-2 win over Red Bank Regional High School. The Knights bounced back from their loss with a 4-2 win against St. John Vianney High School, as Olsen netted two more goals.
Scoring clearly is a strength for Old Bridge. Olsen already has 12 goals and five assists after scoring 46 times and assisting on 20 goals a year ago. Matt Sandor, who tallied 25 goals to go with 38 assists and 66 ground balls, has six goals and four assists thus far this season. The Knights’ other attackman, Matt Rapaglia, who moved up from playing long-stick midfield, has scored four goals.
“The majority of our offense is back, and most of our seniors have been playing together since they were in the fourth grade,” Borriello said. “They’re ready to make their mark.”
A veteran midfield comprised of Bannon, Tom Castiglia and Alex Palumbo routinely does a good job of controlling the pace of games — and all three players can score. Bannon has nine goals and Castiglia has scored twice, while Palumbo is coming off a 14-goal season. Sophomore Micah Trawick has been a good addition, and he has scored two goals and contributed as many assists.
“Our middle guys are all strong two-way players who make their presences felt at both ends of the field,” Borriello said. “They do a lot of the little things, and they just seem to know where to be on the field.”
One of the biggest changes for the Knights was moving 26-goal scorer Francy to goalkeeper. The sophomore backed up Nick Marzullo last year and was able to make important offensive contributions. Borriello is confident in his keeper, noting that goalkeeper is Francy’s main position.
Returnees Matt Merola (62 ground balls) and Eric Johnson spearhead the defense corps, which also includes Josh Cohen and juniors Christian Wasik and Steve Liebowitz, as well as sophomores Dylan Schwartz and Larsen Wolf.
The Knights were scheduled to meet North Brunswick Township High School April 7 and will be off until April 14, when they host Monroe in a key early season GMC matchup.
“Our goal is to get better every day, and that means concentrating on things like winning faceoffs, defensive coverage and being mentally strong — what we call playing Old Bridge lacrosse,” the coach said. “I told the guys that if they had to lose to St. Joe’s, it was better that it happened in April than in the tournaments because there’s a good chance we’ll see them again. We always seem to meet in the postseason.”