Lacrosse season a learning experience

Members of both the girls and boys lacrosse teams at Brick Township High School and Brick Memorial High School are realizing there is more to the game than lining up against opponents in the powerful Shore Conference A South.

"The game goes beyond the field," said Dan Rosa, the new coach for Brick Township High School's boys lacrosse.

The Brick Township boys recently traveled to Midwood High School in Brooklyn, N.Y., for a scrimmage game against the team coached by Rosa's former college coach at Fairleigh Dickinson University, along with Brick Memorial High School girls varsity and junior varsity teams. Rosa said the Midwood teams have committed to coming to Brick for scrimmages next season.

And all four teams had a Brick Day of sorts several weekends ago at the Wachovia Arena in Philadelphia, when the two high school boys teams in the township and the two girls teams had scrimmages against each other on the professional arena's artificial surface for 50 minutes. It was followed by a professional lacrosse game they watched between the Philadelphia Wings and the New York Gladiators.

"Coach Rosa wants us to broaden our horizons by showing us different aspects, and that's helped our game and helped us as a team," said Kevin Trolan, Brick Township's co-captain with Tim Firrman.

"We were watching these other teams and what they do," Firrman said. "Possession is the key when you're trying to get the ball in the goal."

Players sold a quota of tickets for the game and got a chance to work out on the surface in return.

"It was a big, uplifting game, an exciting day," Brick Township girls coach Kristen Pike said. "It was nice to play on pro turf. They had fun and learned what catching and throwing is all about."

"It definitely was a good experience for all four programs," Brick Memorial girls coach Courtney Richardson said. "We got the teams together for a Brick Township thing, and a lot of parents from Brick came. And it wasn't just varsity players. We rotated in some of the jayvee, and it was fun for them to play with other girls they practice with on a daily basis."

"For some, it was the first pro indoor league game they've seen, and they realize there is a chance for some to play pro. They got a kick out of that, and to see Philadelphia and their rowdy fans," Brick Memorial boys coach Brent Middlemiss said.

It has eased the frustration of what Middlemiss sees in a 2-5 Brick Memorial boys season, and Pike in a 1-4 Brick Township girls season, of teams that don't play solidly throughout the game.

Middlemiss said his team "hasn't put a whole game together," although he still holds out hope for qualifying for the NJSIAA and Shore Conference tournaments by the May 9 cutoff.

Brick Memorial boys lost to Brick Township, 9-8, in overtime after taking an early 5-0 lead. They trailed Jackson Memorial, 3-0, at halftime recently before losing, 11-1, and were down by 4-3 to Manasquan at halftime before losing, 8-4.

"Our season is going well but not as well as expected," said Middlemiss, who relies on freshman goalkeeper Drew Lamela and older brother Dan on defense, along with midfielder Dylan Hornblum and Jake Vescovi, who has won as many faceoffs as anyone in the conference. The wins came over Ocean, 11-6, and Jackson Liberty, 8-5. Middlemiss is heartened by the junior varsity team, which won seven of its first eight games.

Brick Township girls recently had their first victory of the season, 9-8, over Toms River East as Kourtney Pike scored the tying and winning goals and younger sister Kristina, a freshman, had two goals and an assist. Alyssa Perotti scored four goals. Kaitlyn Fratterman made eight saves in goal.

"We play well in the first half, and it's all downhill in the second half," Pike said. "I don't know if it's mental or physical or endurance, but we're not the same team in the second half that we are in the first half."

Brick Memorial girls also took a 13-12 overtime victory over Ocean after losing to Southern Regional 9-8, and Toms River North, 16-10 in April.

"Our biggest thing is we have to come together as a team," Richardson said. "Every individual player is improving. They work hard every day. Our defense is definitely playing as a unit."

Melanie Caruso, Monica Smetts and Amanda Simon make up the low defenders in front of goalie Lydia Stanislawski. Richardson said defensive wings AlexandriaMontalto and Jackie Janicky "are really stepping up." Freshman Francesca Bolton has helped.

Brianne Toomey, who anchors the midfield, is headed to East Stroudsburg University this fall.

"She takes the draw and has really stepped up her leadership role in her second year as captain," Richardson said. She also relies on Georgian Court-bound Corinne Coyle with more than 20 goals scored, and Johanna Corino with 17 goals.

Also on the attack are Heather Jensen; Megan Heerwagen, who is headed to Kutztown University to play soccer; Alexa Bolton and Jessica Rosa.

Rosa said he's trying to get his players to do less running or more stick-handling.

"We're on defense more than we want to be," he said. The team wins a game, loses one and then wins a game and loses the next.

'All these things we've done verified what I've said to the players, so they realize I'm not making this up, and it gets them to play at a faster pace," Rosa said. "It takes time and a mental outlook."

Rosa said goalie Dylan Beaver "is playing much better than he did in mid-March."

He also praised the defense of Kevin Bogert, Trolan and Sean Greenwood, and the midfield play of Pat Kearns, Ken Bogert, Bob Costa, Joe Barron, Byron Guise, Mike Auriemma and Kevin Daskalovits. Firrman, Jim Whalen and Frank Poalillo are the forwards. Freshmen Justin Siburt and Brian Murphy also have helped, Rosa said.