The South Brunswick High School boys lacrosse team's best game of the season produced one of its biggest wins in years.
South Brunswick opened play in the Public Group IV Tournament with a 15-5 win over Cherry Hill East on Saturday.
"That was a big win," South Brunswick Coach Mark Ziminski said. "That was our best game of the year by far. We were focused. It was a home game and the kids were all pumped up."
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South Brunswick also did a great job of sticking to its game plan. While Ziminski noted that scoring has been a problem because South Brunswick has struggled to get a lot of people involved in the offense, the Vikings had eight different players record at least a goal.
had three goals and three assists. Dan Gorzynski had four goals and two assists. Bruce Redfield had two goals and an assist. Matt Paradowski had two goals. Anthony Cipriano had a goal and two assists. Colin Quigley had a goal and an assist. James Mastronardi and Shaun Sterner added a goal each.
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"We ran a motion offense in that game," Ziminski noted. "That ball movement allowed a lot of guys to get looks and to score goals."
Brad LeHan made five saves to pick up the win in goal.
"We played a complete game," Ziminski said. "We didn't rush the offense. We did a good job on defense. The kids were very poised."
Going up against a very talented Ridge team in the second round of the playoffs, South Brunswick was defeated, 12-4, on Tuesday. Ridge is the second seed in the event, with South Brunswick holding the 15th seed.
"We were right there with them," Ziminski noted. "It was 3-3 in the third period. We made a couple mistakes. When you do that against a good team like that, it comes back to haunt you."
Dan Gorzynski scored two of South Brunswick's four goals. Quigley and Violante also scored. Brad LeHan had 10 saves in goal.
The loss finishes the season for South Brunswick with a record of 11-8. That mark includes losses to Hillsborogh, Pingry, Somerville and Ridge, teams all ranked in the top 25 in the state.
"We play a tough schedule," Ziminski said.
South Brunswick will continue to play a tough schedule.
"For us to get better, we have to have more skill players," Ziminski said. "The guys have to work hard in the off-season so we can have more scorers. We played some great lacrosse at times this season. At other times, we had trouble playing a complete game. We just have to have more scoring options."
As it was, South Brunswick had six players honored on the Greater Middlesex Conference Team. Violante (midfield) and Alex Lorber (defense) made the First Team. Quigley (midfield), Gorzynski (attack) and LeHan (goal) were named to the Second Team. Shaun Sterner was an honorable mention at midfield.
