By Jeff Appelblatt
This season is a work in progress for Manalapan High School’s girls’ lacrosse team.
The team had no answer for the Cougars in its March 29 opener at Colts Neck High School. Colts Neck jumped out to a 14-2 lead at halftime and finished the Braves off without much of a challenge, 19-2.
Manalapan coach Kerry Eisman didn’t want to say it, but he knew his club would struggle to start the year. His two best athletes from a year ago graduated, and he was left with a team searching for its new identity.
“We have a lot of new girls. They’re inexperienced, so it will be a learning curve for us,” the coach said. “We have a couple of girls that played some minutes last year — but very few.”
Colts Neck, meanwhile, still has juniors Ally Largey and Maggie Diebold on its roster. And they went off against Manalapan in the opener, combining for 10 goals and nine assists.
The Braves managed to keep things more competitive in their second match against Ocean Township High School. They only trailed, 6-4, at halftime before falling, 10-5. Katheryn DeLuca, who scored a goal against Colts Neck, netted two against the Spartans. Gina DeLorenzo scored one against Ocean Township, and Grace DiPalermo scored a goal in each contest.
Even though three different girls have found the net, Eisman knows it will take plenty of games and practice to get the team familiar with outscoring its opponents. And the players will need to work together every step of the way.
“This year’s going to have to be a team-balanced effort. Last year, we depended on two girls, and they scored like 95 percent of our goals. They both scored well over 100 goals in their careers. They were both four-year varsity players. They bore the responsibility the last two years,” Manalapan’s coach said, reminiscing on his years with Carly Niro and Erin Rotondo. “Last year alone, the duo scored more than 130 goals while sharing the ball and coming up with about 40 assists.
“Now we need to find some new [girls to rely on]. We’re very much wide open to what’s going to happen.”
Before the season started, Manalapan was able to partake in a few scrimmages between the wet weather.
“We were able to get two [scrimmages], at least,” he said. “We competed. We played two good teams, so we lost both. But we were competitive. I was happy how we did.”
Manalapan’s coach can only hope the scrimmages and the early-season games will help the Braves start steering in the right direction.
He’s certain that his girls keep striving to improve.
“It could be a struggle early on. But we’ll play hard. I can guarantee that,” Eisman said. “I’m happy with their work ethic, and they will play hard. They’re tough kids.
“By mid-year, hopefully we’ll be where we need to be.”
En route to the midseason, Manalapan took on Middletown High School North April 4 and will play again at 3:45 p.m. in Manalapan April 7 against Manchester Township High School.