By Tim Morris
This was expected to be a holding year for the Colts Neck High School girls lacrosse team.
Having lost most of its starters — including the program’s all-time leading scorer, Hailie Keselman, who is playing at Ohio State University — from its division championship team, Colts Neck didn’t expect to be a championship-caliber club. With underclassmen replacing veteran starters, new head coach Christine Latteri wanted her club to keep its head above water this spring with a bright future ahead.
The Cougars have done that with a 7-7 record that got them into the Shore Conference Tournament.
“We’re very young; we’re learning from our losses,” Latteri said. “I see us improving. We’re building chemistry together.”
As the season nears its conclusion, Latteri pointed out that her Cougars are winning by wider margins and playing top team closer the second time around against opponents in the Shore Conference B North Division.
Much of what the Cougars are doing is the result of a carryover of having built a winning tradition. It breeds high expectations and the desire to do what it takes to win.
“They work very hard in practice,” Latteri said.
Credit for that can go to the team’s four co-captains: Becky Bock, Caroline Keller, Olivia Paolillo and Maggie Diebold, who is out for the season with an injury but is still very involved with the program.
Sophomore Camryn Allmers has stepped up and given the team some of the offense that left with Keselman. She leads the Cougars with 25 goals and is clearly the team’s finisher.
Sophomores Taylor Niedzielski (21) and Ally Largey (19) have been finding the mark, combining for 40 goals and showing plenty of promise as scorers.
Keller, a junior, is the team’s playmaker with 15 assists to go with nine goals.
It is Bock, a junior, whose hustle sets the tone for the team. While her 17 goals and 11 assists are a big help to the offense, it’s the 43 ground balls she has won that inspires her teammates. It also allows the Cougars to maintain possession. Latteri called what she does huge.
In addition, Bock is the best player on the team when it comes to winning draws. Niedzielski is also very reliable on the draws.
Bock hasn’t been alone in the hustle department, as Paolillo and Niedzielski have won 35 grounds balls.
Possessing the ball is very important to Colts Neck because Latteri wants the offense to be patient and not forces things, run plays and be balanced.
The defense has improved from the start of the season, and the players have become more familiar with their assignments within the zone defense.
The only senior on this Cougars team is goalie Kaitlyn Fennell, who has a save percentage of .550 with 102 saves. She makes life easier for the Cougars’ young defenders.
Making postseason tournaments is an added bonus for this young team that is growing in confidence with each game.
“It will be a good experience to get into the tournaments,” said Latteri, who was an assistant coach at Colts Neck the last six years before taking over as the head coach this spring.
With all the field starters returning for 2017, every extra game the Cougars play this season is a bonus. All signs point to Colts Neck being a contender again next year.