By Tim Morris
Patra Acquaviva had a closeup look at the Freehold Township High School girls lacrosse team from the other side of the sidelines.
Last spring, Acquaviva was the head coach at Middletown High School North and saw firsthand how good the Patriots were.
“I knew a lot about them,” she said. “I knew they had a great program with a great reputation.”
When the head coaching position opened at Freehold Township after last season, Acquaviva, who lives in the Freehold area, decided to apply for the position. It’s closer to home, and she knew a little something about the program.
Seeing how the Patriots play from the opposing coach’s position is one thing; being a part of the program as the head coach is quite another. It didn’t take Acquaviva, who played lacrosse for Hunterdon Central Regional High School and Rutgers University, long to see why Freehold Township is either winning or contending for the Shore Conference A North Division championship each year.
Recalling her first impressions of the team at the first practices, Acquaviva explained that there was no doubt the players took it seriously.
“There was no issue about commitment,” she said. “They lived up to [the reputation].”
Ten games into the 2016 season, the Patriots are 7-3 and again one of the Shore’s best squads.
The good news as Acquaviva sees it is that by the end of the season, Freehold Township could be even better.
“I think we’re peaking at the right time,” she said.
That’s primarily because the Patriots, despite their record, are a very young team with plenty of sophomores — and even a freshman — in the starting lineup.
The Patriots have one of the Shore’s top talents in senior Victoria Camassa, who has delivered 35 goals and 20 assists from midfield. Acquaviva called her standout a great finisher.
But as good as Camassa is, the Patriots’ success comes from their teamwork.
“Teams were going to gun for [Camassa]; I couldn’t base the team around her,” Acquaviva said. “It was going to take a full team effort.
“I think the big strength of the team is the camaraderie. They have a blast every time out there. There’s great ball movement. This is not a selfish team.”
Acquaviva was pleased to make note of the fact that the vast majority of the team’s goals are assisted. There aren’t a lot of unassisted tallies, which points to the team’s passing and unselfishness.
Junior Raegen Dunn and sophomore Michelle Pascrell make up a formidable midfield trio for the Patriots. Dunn has 19 goals and eight assists on the year, and Pascrell boasts 15 goals and 13 assists.
Up front on attack, Kaela Chadziutko, who was the goalie on Freehold Township’s state championship soccer team, has contributed 14 goals and 11 assists.
The Patriots defense is anchored by underclassmen, who are playing like anything but that. Freshman Kirsten Murphy and sophomore Cai Martin have taken charge in the back and are outstanding two-way players who help trigger the Patriots’ transition game. Murphy has four goals and five assists, while Marin has eight goals and three assists.
Sophomore Lindsay Smith has been very steady in goal.
Acquaviva credited a tough week during which the Patriots lost back-to-back games to Wall High School and Allentown High School — both outstanding teams — with helping the Patriots gel.
“Sometimes you need a week like that,” she said. “It gave us a new attitude. The team has meshed.”
While the Patriots have been dominant in A North, they’ve stumbled in the postseason, which is something Acquaviva wants to rectify this year.
“My goal is to go further than they have before in the Shore Conference Tournament and states,” she said.
That would take the Patriots into the Shore Conference Tournament semifinals for the first time and out of the first round in the state tournament.
“We can compete with the top teams,” the coach said.
Manalapan High School (6-4) is another conference tournament contender. The Braves have one of the best one-two punches in the Shore in Erin Rotondo (48 goals, 10 assists) and Carly Niro (33 goals, 10 assists), which makes them very dangerous.
The Braves are on a four-game winning streak that includes back-to-back one-goal wins — 9-8 over Brick Memorial High School and 8-7 against Old Bridge High School — a sure sign of a team that has learned how to win.
The cutoff date for teams to be .500 or better and qualify for the Shore Conference Tournament is May 7. The tournament’s first-round games are May 9, followed by the second round May 11. Ocean Township High School is the site for the semifinals May 13, and Monmouth University is where the finals will be played May 16.
Marlboro High School (5-6) is within striking distance of making the tournament for the first time since 2009.
Howell High School (4-7) has been a fixture in the tournament and has its work cut out for it to make the tournament this year.