By: Kyle Moylan Sports Editor
For a lot of teams, coming into a season with only one senior could be devastating. For the Robbinsville High School boys’ lacrosse team, however, it’s not even anything new.
Robbinsville didn’t have any seniors in 2007. Of course, that just set up last year where almost everyone was a senior. Didn’t matter. Robbinsville made the playoffs both years, which happened to also be the first two seasons in the history of the program.
“When you make the playoffs the first year without any seniors, you set the bar up there,” said Chris Penna, who is the only coach in the history of the program. “Whether there are one or zero seniors, we expect to make the playoffs.”
The only senior on the team is Alex Redler, a defender. The other two returning starters are E.J. Schmid (junior midfielder with 80 career points) and Jared Icenhower (a sophomore that plays on the attack).
Fortunately for Robbinsville, there is a good lacrosse Rec program in the area.
“That helps a lot,” Penna said. “We just have to get the guys up to speed for the varsity play.”
Freshmen Jimmy Eckstein and A.J. Sanguinetti have looked impressive on the defense.
Sophomores Jake Sonnefeld, Joe Carrubba and Ryan Mayer will play at midfield. Sophomores Jack Virgie and John Demkovicz are options on the attack. Another sophomore, A.J. Fascenda, plays defense.
Ryan Bottin (midfield) and Anthony Ferrono (defense) are juniors that will get a lot of playing time.
Joe Ferarra, a junior, was set to start the season as a midfielder. For the good of the team, he has taken on the role of goalie.
Robbinsville, which went 14-4 with a senior-
dominated team last season, was scheduled to open the season yesterday (Thursday). Robbinsville will also play Hamilton on Tuesday.
Repeating the 14-4 mark could be difficult, but it’s hard to doubt Robbinsville. Penna is particularly happy when he looks at the fact 20 freshman came into the program this season.
“The expectations are still there,” Penna said. “The expectations will always be there.”
GIRLS
Tawrye Mason will be taking over a Robbinsville High School girls’ lacrosse team that went 6-8 last season.
Mason, who will be assisted by Sean Greig, has two players that are already committed to continuing their careers at The College of New Jersey, a traditional power in the NCAA Division III ranks. Those girls are seniors Emilie Taylor (center) and Christy Wham (left attack wing).
Other key returning players are seniors Laura Greb (first home), Jackie Sikora (right defensive wing), Katie Noonan (point) and Devon Brzenski (coverpoint).
The other seniors on the team are Rachel Balient (second home), Jessica Kraemer (left defense wing), Jillian Vaz and Nicole Matyas.
Robbinsville rounds out its roster with five sophomores — Nicole Gerdes (third home), Lindsay Stewart (right attack wing), Nicole Yap (third man), Nina Andersen (goalie) and Emily Kolaski.
“Our philosophy is simple . . . we work hard, we hustle, and we play with intensity every time we step onto the field,” Mason said. “As long as we do that, good things will happen. We are hoping to surprise a few teams this season with our veteran leadership, our speed, and our competitiveness.”
Robbinsville was scheduled to open up yesterday (Wednesday) against Pennington. It will host West Windsor South today (Thursday) at 3:45 p.m. Robbinsville will play at Notre Dame on Monday and at Hopewell Valley on Wednesday in 3:45 p.m. starts.
