By Warren Rappleyea
North Brunswick Township High School’s girls lacrosse team, which remains undefeated at 19-0, continued its dominance in the Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) by outscoring its opponents, 55-22, to win the conference tournament.
The top-seeded and undefeated Raiders won the GMC title for the second time in three years by besting third-seeded Monroe Township High School, 21-12, May 14 in the GMC finals. Coach Daniele Bussiere’s team raced out to an early lead and took a 12-6 lead into the intermission.
As has been the case all season, North Brunswick’s “Big Three” was in fine form. Samantha Mehalick led the onslaught with seven goals and two assists, while Tatum Altman added five goals and a pair of assists and junior Victoria Tucci produced two goals and aided on five others.
On May 12, the Raiders got a bit of revenge against Old Bridge High School — the team that upset North Brunswick on a goal with less than 30 seconds remaining in last year’s GMC finals. This time around, the two teams met in the semifinals, and Bussiere’s girls kept the Lady Knights on their heels throughout the match. Mehalick and Tucci each scored four times, and Altman had two goals and as many assists in the victory.
From the preseason onward, Bussiere said her team was using last year’s defeat at the hands of Old Bridge as inspiration for this season.
“We have a much better team than people think,” the coach said. “Everyone talks about our scoring — and that’s certainly been good — but we’ve spent a lot of time working on our defense, and I think it shows.”
Prior to its solid defensive showing in the Old Bridge win, North Brunswick held J.P. Stevens High School to just three goals while scoring 19 times itself in the opening round of the GMC Tournament. It was a hallmark game for the offense, though, as Mehalick scored seven times to surpass the 400-goal mark for her career. Altman, who scored five times, also pitched in with five assists to pass the 200-assist mark for her career. Not to be outdone, Tucci, who had a goal to go with four assists, hit the 100-mark in career assists.
With the GMC crown in its rearview mirror, North Brunswick looks to make its mark in the upcoming NJSIAA North Jersey, Group IV tournament. The Raiders fell in the first round to Hillsborough High School a year ago. To help prepare for this year’s sectional, North Brunswick has had an extensive non-conference schedule that included Morris Knolls High School, Robbinsville High School, St. John Vianney High School, Montgomery High School and Watchung Hills Regional High School.
“We want to be known outside the GMC,” Bussiere said. “We’ve been looking forward to this since the season started. The girls are ready to go.”
In other girls lacrosse action, South Brunswick High School is 10-7 overall after falling to Monroe in the semifinals of the GMC Tournament May 12. Hailey Konopka scored four times and Caroline Hvozdovic had two goals and three assists in the loss. Goalkeeper Dakota Apicelli turned aside 16 Monroe shots.
The second-seeded Lady Vikings made their way to the semifinals after downing seventh-seeded Edison High School in the opening round, 18-3, May 10. Hvozdovic led the way with five goals and six assists, and Briana Gonzales scored four times for South Brunswick.
Boys volleyball
North Brunswick’s boys volleyball team is coming off a 2-0 (25-7, 25-17) victory against 12th-seeded Perth Amboy High School in the opening round of the GMC Tournament. Kamul Narula led the Raiders with six kills, while Bryan Ezeonu and Shiv Rattan had five kills apiece.
Coach Jim Biolsi’s team, which is 14-5 on the year and winners of the White Division, entered the tournament following a hard-fought, 2-0 (23-25, 24-26) loss to Red Division foe Old Bridge. Ezeonu posted eight kills in the defeat, while Ryan Jennings had 13 assists, eight digs, a block and a service ace. The Raiders were scheduled to play fourth-seeded J.P. Stevens May 17.
South Brunswick’s boys are also enjoying a successful campaign. The sixth-seeded Vikings downed 11th-seeded Colonia High School, 2-0 (25-12, 25-18), in the opening round of the GMC Tournament behind Eric Savage and Todd Blackburn, who combined for 16 kills. The victory set up a meeting with third-seeded Old Bridge, which was set for May 17.
Previously, the Vikings edged Piscataway Township High School, 2-0 (25-16, 25-21), April 12, as Savage posted 11 kills and Blackburn added another nine scores. South Brunswick also came back to best J.P. Stevens, 2-1 (23-25, 25-21, 25-22) May 11, with Savage’s 13 kills pacing the attack. Donny Sun contributed 24 assists and eight digs, and Blackburn pitched in with eight digs, five blocks and three kills.
Baseball
South Brunswick upped its record to 15-7 with three straight shutout victories, using a variety of pitchers to secure each win. On May 12, the Vikings held West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South to just two hits in a 6-0 success. Will Drost, Abhi Gupta, Anthony Sjolund, Sean Nally, Jordan Trimpett and Brendan Zircher combined for the whitewash. At the plate, Nally was 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs, and Dillon Beck also had two hits and drove in a run.
The previous day, coach C. J. Hendricks’ team handed Lawrence High School a 13-0 defeat. Brandon Siroki had two hits and two RBIs, and Jaren Almonte provided a two-run double in support of freshman Jacob Ciccone, who allowed three hits over four innings. Alex Pollock and Marci DiIusto had two hits apiece.
Drost, Gupta, Siroki, Sjolunf and Zircher combined to toss a six-hit shutout against Middlesex High School. Siroki went 2-for-3 with two RBIs to raise his average to .390 with a team-leading 20 RBIs. Chris James added a three-run double, as nine South Brunswick batters had hits.
Softball
South Brunswick’s softball team also won its GMC Tournament opener, 9-2, over 11th-seeded Carteret High School May 14. Lindsey Warick went 4-for-4 with an RBI, and Emily Collins was 2-for-3 with a three-run double for the sixth-seeded Lady Vikings. Carly Rybinski went 2-for-2 to raise her batting average to .526 to go along with a team-leading 20 RBIs. Nicole Majewski fanned nine and went the distance in the circle.
Majewski tossed a four-hit shutout and drove in a pair of runs with a first-inning double May 11, as her team downed East Brunswick High School, 3-0. Majewski allowed just one hit and drove in two more runs in a 14-0 success against Lawrence May 10. Collins, Warick Haley Grossi, Jaime Klemas and Samantha Knehr drove in two runs apiece for South Brunswick.