By Warren Rappleyea
A young, but talented lineup took the field for Old Bridge High School’s boys lacrosse team when the Knights opened the season March 30 at Red Bank Regional High School.
Last season, Old Bridge went 14-7 and reached the semifinals of the Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) Tournament before bowing to Saint Joseph High School of Metuchen. The Knights also made it to the second round of the NJSIAA South Jersey, Group IV tournament.
The graduation of several key players has created opportunities throughout coach Andrew Borriello’s lineup. Most of the Knights’ returning players are on the back end, so defense should be the team’s strong suit.
Josh Escalante, Steven Liebowitz and Christian Wasick return to form a solid back line for the Knights. The emergence of junior goaltender Jonathan Ortiz should further aid the defense while also helping the offense.
Versatile junior Thomas Francy, an all-conference selection as a goalie last year, returns to the attack. The talented left-hander compiled 26 goals and six assists and picked up 82 ground balls as a freshman. Junior Patrick Rosiak and sophomore Bryce Weber are the other starters up front. Micah Trawick, another junior, adds a scoring touch to the midfield.
“We know our defense is going to be very solid,” Borriello said. “We’re going to score more than people are going to expect. I think our offense is going to be explosive. We have several players who can put the ball in the net.”
Seniors Tanner Corbett, Devin Eardley and Tyler Quilban will anchor the middle, along with junior Dylan Schwarz. Eardley will handle the bulk of the faceoff work. All three are strong on both sides of the ball, Borriello said. Junior Patrick O’Regan is the long-stick middie. Freshman Justin Fox will also get a chance to play in the middle. Junior Anthony Mechowski will split his time between the middle and attack.
“I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the way our guys have played in the scrimmages,” the coach said. “There’s a fair amount of competition for spots, and it’s pushing everyone to work harder. And in the end, it will make us a better team.”
The Knights opened their scrimmage schedule against powerful Lenape High School and gradually got better through the preseason. Borriello thinks the same thing may happen in the regular season.
“Our goal is to get better with every practice and every game,” the coach said. “I think our strength is our inexperience, but that’s also our weakness. We’re going to make some mistakes, but we have a lot of talent and I think we’ll be right in the mix.”