By Wayne Witkowski
It took a few weeks, but Christian Brothers Academy’s (CBA) lacrosse team may be getting in sync.
“It’s only going to get better. I like where we are as a team,” coach David Santos said after the Colts (3-4) rallied to a 14-12 victory over Freehold Township High School, 14-12, April 22 in a Shore Conference A North Division showdown of unbeatens. “We’re seeing signs of improvement, growing signs of confidence, which is part of a maturation process.”
After trailing Freehold Township, 8-2, CBA tied it at 8-8 early in the fourth quarter and fell back behind, 11-8, before reeling off four goals in the last five minutes — three of them by Robbie Hermansen. He finished with five goals, as the Colts won their third game in the last four outings. It raised their division record to 3-0 to share the lead with Middletown High School South.
“It’s always a big game for us against Freehold Township and for them, too, it’s always a battle,” senior captain Nick Casner said.
Casner scored the go-ahead goal with a half-minute left when he snuck from behind the net, took the pass and fired a leaping shot at the goalie’s feet and into the net.
“It’s always a battle in A North with us, them and Howell. It was gut check time,” Casner said. “We were embarrassed and not quick [to the ball]. We kept chipping away. We could not come back if not for our goalkeeper, Ryan McGuiness, who made some spectacular saves. We kept thinking that we can do it.”
Junior midfielder Nick Robertson also played an integral role, winning many faceoffs.
“That turned the momentum,” Santos said. “It’s a big part of our success.”
Blame the slow start this season on the return of only four senior starters from last year’s 12-7 team that won the division championship but lost in the Shore Conference Tournament semifinals and the second round of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Non-Public A tournament.
Blame it on a tough part of the schedule at the outset in losses to Don Bosco Preparatory High School, 12-5, Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School, 9-1, and IMG Academy of Florida, 14-6.
More than anything, blame it on learning a new motion offense introduced by new volunteer assistant coach Kevin Dugan, a former CBA player who went on to play at Notre Dame University and later served as head coach at Scranton University and as an assistant at Yale University and Notre Dame.
“It’s a college-style offense. It takes a while to learn it,” Santos said. “But this was an emotional win [over Freehold Township]. Hopefully, they’ll feed off this win.”
“We needed a spark,” Casner said. “Some guys were starting to doubt our offense, but I know how things work at CBA, that we play our best offense at the end of the season. That’s when we’re really dangerous.”
After games with Robbinsville High School (April 24), at division opponent Marlboro High School (April 26) and Colts Neck High School (May 1), the Colts have big division games against Howell High School May 3 and at Middletown South May 10.
For now, the Colts hope they continue to round into the top form they’ve shown over the years.
“It was a really tough start, but we’ve kept our heads high and know how good we can be,” Casner said. “Despite the tough start, we still are ranked in the top 10 in the Shore. In our last two games, our offense has started to click. We’ll let our playing talk for us.”
Casner, who became the fifth player to score 200 career points in a 19-1 victory over Neptune High School April 15, leads the way with 14 goals and 18 assists from his attackman position. He had two goals and six assists against Freehold Township. Junior attackmen Michael Carroll and Hermansen follow with 13 and 12 goals, respectively.
Seniors Ryan Madalone (midfielder) and Jack Koury (defenseman) return to the starting lineup as well.
Junior midfielders Tom Convery and Luke Valentino, who has nine assists; senior defenseman Clinton Wilson; and sophomore midfielder Connor Macrea also have played important roles and will be needed later in the season if the team continues its upswing to return to tournament play.