Rosa now at helm of BTHS varsity boys lacrosse

Dan Rosa knows lacrosse. He has presided over the Brick Lacrosse Club and coached teams of different age levels over the club's four-year history. Now Rosa will bring his expertise to the Brick Township High School boys varsity program that he has helped stock with fine prospects over the years.

The Board of Education tapped Rosa to serve as the new head lacrosse coach. When practice begins March 6, Rosa will replace Steve Maurelli, who coached the team to some benchmark highlights in the program's first four years of existence.

"I'm really in heaven; I wish I could start today," said Rosa, an Irvington firefighter. "I'll take the same approach here. I'll go in with adjustments that need to be made and for where we want to go.

"Steve Maurelli did a fantastic job with the kids," Rosa said. "I want to take this on to a much bigger and better place."

Kristen Pike returns for another season as coach of the Brick Township girls team.

Last year's boys team won eight games and finished just under .500, but Rosa feels he has the personnel to go beyond that.

"They won games they were supposed to win and lost to teams they were supposed to lose to and people were happy with the progress," he said.

Rosa brings his own experience as a coach and also as a player at Johnson Regional in Clark where he played almost every position and at Fairleigh Dickinson University, where he was ranked No. 8 nationally as a goalie. Rosa only started playing goalie in his senior year in high school and quickly mastered the position to be regarded as one of the best in the state.

Laurie Bogert, who has been active with the Brick Lacrosse Club from its beginnings five years ago, will take over as club president. But Rosa said he will find the time to continue to help the club program.

"He's got a lot of experience," said Brick Township Athletic Director Rick Handchen. "He had been involved in high school and college and played on both levels and then has been involved with club teams for a number of years. That's a positive because the high school program still is a pretty new program — only four years old. He's probably the reason why we have it here as a varsity sport and helped it go through the channels as a board member."

Rosa is president of the Board of Education this year.

Practices begin in early March. Rosa is retaining last year's assistant coaches —John Schmitt and Chuck Pazmino — and said he is pleased from what he knows about the returning players' off-season commitment.

They have a solid nucleus anchored by senior captains Tim Firrman and Jim Whalen, both leaders in the attack with senior Frank Poalillo, senior midfielder Ken Bogert and his brother, Kevin, a junior defenseman. Patrick Kearns comes off an impressive freshman season last spring as a starter in the midfield.

Rosa said he also is excited about the freshmen who come in experienced from the Brick Lacrosse Club.

"I'll do things offensively and defensively differently [from last season]," said Rosa. "The skills are there to handle it. They have the ability to contend in the conference [Shore Conference A South] and I think the boys can do things differently. They'll have fun and perform because they step on the field with the idea and with a plan to know exactly what they're doing. We'll use zone defenses and variations along with man [man-to-man defense] coverage.

"Offensively, there are some kids with fantastic stick skills. We'll do things a little more risky with possession."

Rosa said he also will coach in the club program (which has grown to 120 players strong in the boys and girls brackets) the Bandits South boys team, one of the two teams for seventh- and eighth-graders.

Brent Middlemiss, who is starting his second season as Brick Memorial boys coach, will coach the club's Bandits North team for seventh- and eighth-graders. The program has grown over the years, so the seventh- and eighth-grade team was split into four for this season, and each Bandit team will have an A and a B team. There also will be a third- and fourth-grade team again this year for the boys. The girls will continue to have a thirdand fourth-grade team and a seventh- and eighth-grade team.

Those teams have a travel schedule against programs around the Shore.

The Brick Lacrosse Club also this spring will start an instructional program for firstand second-graders at Drum Point Complex on Saturday mornings that Rosa will help administer.

The club will also host two tournaments: a girls tournament on May 31 for thirdthrough eighth-grade girls and a boys showcase tournament on July 24 and 25 at Drum Point Complex and Veterans Memorial Middle School Field that will include teams from Maryland, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Ohio.

The club has enjoyed success venturing into tournaments. A seventh- and eighthgrade boys team excelled in a tournament in Ohio last summer and some players were selected for a New Jersey team that fared well in a Lake George, N.Y., showcase.

A seventh- and eighth-grade Brick Bandits girls team performed well in a tournament in July in Germantown, Md., losing to the No. 2 seed and eventual champion from Maryland in the quarterfinal.

"The girls went as a club team against elite teams. Now seven of those girls are playing on elite teams," said Rosa.

As for the other varsity girls team in the township, Courtney Richardson returns as head coach at Brick Memorial High School for a second season.