No. 3 East Brunswick Beats Colonia In A Slugfest, 14-7
Transcription
No. 3 East Brunswick Beats Colonia In A Slugfest, 14-7
Boys Lacrosse Top 8; Schedule For The Week; Standings NO. 1. ST. JOSEPH (2-2): The Falcons traveled to Long Island where lacrosse is king and suffered a 16-8 loss to Sachem North, but playing that type of competition will only help the Metuchen school in the post-season. Sophomores Max Bischoff (9-8-7) and Timmy Day (6-6-3) have combined for 15 goals, 14 assists and 10 ground balls. Monroe’s Chase Santiago (10) on the move (Photo by Roy DeBoer) Sean Gillies NO. 2 MONROE (3-0): The junior-dominated outscored the opposition, 14-9. Falcons have Sean Gillies has 12 goals and 11 assists, Erik Anderson has nine goals and nine assists, Peter Jarosiewicz has nine goals, while goalie Joey Massoni has 24 saves. All four players are juniors. NO. 3 OLD BRIDGE (4-1): The Knights beat two clubs from Union County and two from Monmouth, but suffered a 14-5 loss to St. Joe’s. Senior Sean Olsen, last year’s leading scorer, leads again with 12 goals, four assists and 25 ground balls. Senior Ryan Bannon has nine goals and 15 ground balls and sophomore goalie Thomas Francy has 50 saves. Ryan Bannon of Old Bridge reacts during game with Vianney on Saturday (Photo by Bobby Morton) NO. 4 SOUTH BRUNSWICK (2-3): Despite the sub .500 record, the Vikings have been competitive in all five games. Junior Austin Miller has recorded 13 goals, seven assists and six ground balls, while senior Matt Golden has seven goals, two assists and 13 ground balls. NO. 5 NORTH BRUNSWICK (0-3): North Brunswick was competitive with Brick Memorial and 2-0 Brick Township, losing to the latter, 7-6. Senior Brett Krause leads the Raiders with eight goals and 15 ground balls. NO. 6 EAST BRUNSWICK (0-4): The Bears were competitive in two of its four losses – falling 10-6 to Middletown North and 9-5 to Vianney. NO. 7 J.P. STEVENS (1-1): The Hawks, who lost their opener to Morris Catholic, 10-5, beat township rival Edison for the first time in its short history, 11-3, as senior Alex Zias scored four goals and sophomore Robert DiStefano had three goals and two assists. NO. 8 EDISON (0-3): Goalie Jacir Evans has recorded over 50 saves. SCHEDULE FOR THE WEEK MONDAY, APRIL 6 Nottingham at Edison, 11:30 TUESDAY, APRIL 7 North Brunswick at Old Bridge, 10 St. Joe’s at East Brunswick, 2 J.P. Stevens at South Brunswick, 4 THURSDAY, APRIL 9 Old Bridge at Millburn, 10 Edison at St. Joe’s, 10 J.P. Stevens at North Brunswick, 10 Howell at East Brunswick, 11 South Brunswick at Monroe, 4 FRIDAY, APRIL 10 St. Joe’s at St. Peter’s Prep, 4:30 SATURDAY, APRIL 11 Delaware Valley at South Brunswick, 10 North Brunswick at Hamilton West, 10 Hillsborough East Brunswick, 11 Softball Roundup: No. 3 East Brunswick Beats Colonia In A Slugfest, 14-7 (32 Combined Hits) SCORES RED DIVISION J.P. Stevens 4 South Brunswick 1 BLUE DIVISION Metuchen 9, Middlesex 1 Spotswood 10 Mother Seton 2 McCarrick 11 New Brunswick 0 GOLD DIVISION Perth Amboy Tech 9 East Brunswick Tech 6 GMC CROSSOVERS East Brunswick 14 Colonia 7 South Plainfield 19 Dunellen 0 Sayreville 14 Woodbridge 2 Perth Amboy 9, South River 4 NON-CONFERENCE Somerville 15 North Brunswick 1 Wardlaw 10, Calvary Christian 7 NO. 3 EAST BRUNSWICK 14, COLONIA 7 Lauren Assennata, EB Kate Brannigan, Colonia COLONIA — Lauren Assennata was 4-for-5 with a double, a home run and seven RBI to lead East Brunswick in a GMC crossover slugfest which featured 21 runs and 32 hits, including 21 by the Bears, who improved to 2-0. Kate Brnnigan was 3-for-4 with a double and a home run and three RBI to lead Colonia, which fell to 1-1. In two games, Brannigan is 6-for-7 with a double, three home runs and six RBI. Sam Smalley and Brenna Razzano were both 3-for-6 and Megan Kelliher had two doubles and two RBI for East Brunswick, which was locked in a 4-4 tie after three innings before scoring three in the fourth and five in the fifth for a 12-4 lead. Colonia scored three runs in the seventh. Gaby Perez had two hits and two RBI for Colonia, Juli Wright had two hits and an RBI. NO. 7 J.P. STEVENS 4, NO. 8 SOUTH BRUNSWICK 1 SOUTH BRUNSWICK — I was here for this one. Later tonight I will have a full game recap with stats, pictures, videos and web gems. Freshman pitcher Ashley Lombardi made her varsity debut a memorable one by pitching a three-hitter with six strikeouts and four walks to lead the Hawks in the season opener for both GMC Red Division teams. Stevens collected seven hits, including an RBI double and an RBI single by Julie Siecinski, two doubles and one RBI by Rebecca DiSerio and two hits by leadoff hitter Kayla Smith. Nicole Majewski had two of South Brunswick’s hits. Leann Panconi (3 innings) and Majewski (4) combined on a seven hitter for the Vikings, giving up three earned runs with five strikeouts, two walks and a hit batsman. Rebecca DiSerio (left) and Julie Siecinski (right) provided the power, Kayla Smith (second from left) set the table and pitcher Ashley Lombardi made it stand to lead Stevens past South Brunswick Stevens took a 1-0 lead in the third on a leadoff hit by pitch, a passed ball and a double by DiSerio. South Brunswick got one back in the bottom of the third on a one-out single by Carly Rybinski, a stolen base, a passed ball and a single to left by Majewski. Stevens scored the go-ahead run in the fifth on an error and an RBI double by DiSerio, then added two insurance runs in the seventh. Smith singled, DiSerio doubled with one out, then each one scored on a fielder’s choice RBI by Amanda Lombardi and a single by Siecinski. Lombardi worked out of a two on, no-out jam in the second and left runners on first and third in third after South Brunswick had tied the score. Lombardi gave up a single and a walk the rest of the way. NO. 5 SAYREVILLE 14, WOODBRIDGE 2 Emily Cabrera WOODBRIDGE — Emily Cabrera went 4-for-5 with a pair of doubles and Erin Fitzsimmons tossed a four-hitter as Sayreville posted the GMC crossover victory in the season opener for both teams. The Bombers collected 11 hits in all, including three each by Mary Kate Kersting and Kelly Duffy. Carly Kjersgaard was 2for-2 for Woodbridge, including a double and a triple. Tied at 1-1 after one inning, Sayreville scored eight unanswered run to take a 9-1 lead after four innings. NO. 9 METUCHEN 9, MIDDLESEX 1 Brooke Bandola Molly O’Connor MIDDLESEX — Sophomore Brooke Bandola led a balanced, 10-hit attack with a single, double and a triple and fellow sophomore Molly O’Connor tossed a one-hitter with 13 strikeouts and five walks to lead Metuchen to the season-opening, GMC Blue Division clash for both teams. O’Connor gave up a clean single to Ashley Dotey, past a diving second baseman with one out in the sixth to spoil the nohitter. Tina Czochanski had a double and two RBI for Metuchen, Julie Pirro and Alanna Benderly had two hits each, while Samantha Hoffman, Allie Chalker, Benderly and Samantha Hong all drove in a run. CARDINAL MCCARRICK 11, NEW BRUNSWICK 0 Jackie Riley Kelsey Edwards NEW BRUNSWICK — Jackie Riley pitched a one-hitter over five innings, striking out 12 and walking none and was 2-for-3 with a triple and two RBI to lead McCarrick to the Blue Division triumph. McCarrick collected 11 hits, including two by Kelsey Edwards, who was 2-for-3 with a double and four RBI. Victoria Zayas (double) and Samantha Napoli had two hits each as well for the Eagles, who banged out 11 of them. SPOTSWOOD 10, MOTHER SETON 2 CLARK — Spotswood opened its season with a single by Julie Raba, followed by a home run by Samantha Morh to set the tone in this Blue Division clash. In the second, the Chargers pulled away on a grand slam by Megan Paulson. PERTH AMBOY TECH 9, EAST BRUNSWICK TECH 6 EAST BRUNSWICK — Here is the write-up from Perth Amboy Tech coach Jim Rand. He even threw in his own headline: Patriots Take Out East Brunswick Tech With Help From Michelle Infante, 9-6 Michelle Infante went 2-for-2 with three RBI, helping the Patriots to a 9-6 victory over East Brunswick Tech on Thursday. She singled in a run in the second inning and homered in the third inning. Michelle Infante Rebecca Haggerty was a workhorse in the circle while bagging the win for the Patriots. Haggerty pitched seven innings and allowed four earned runs, three hits and four walks, while striking out nine. In the top of the first, East Brunswick Tech grabbed the early lead, 3-0, scoring two runs on one a groundout. The Patriots went up for good in the second, scoring four runs, which was keyed by a two-run double by Christine Zapata. Perth Amboy Tech then began to pull away, scoring two runs in the third on Infante’s two-run homer, then two more in the fourth. Three runs in the top of the sixth helped East Brunswick Tech close its deficit to 9-6. An error, a groundout and a wild pitch triggered East Brunswick Tech’s comeback. NO. 4 SOUTH PLAINFIELD 19, DUNELLEN 0 SOUTH PLAINFIELD — South Plainfield scored 12 runs in the top of the first on seven hits and seven walks to improve to 2-0 by winning this three-inning game. Camryn Schaeffer Holly DeLair The big hits in the first were by Camryn Schaeffer, who doubled to score two. Katherine Vill and Naomi Nieves also doubled for an RBI each. The big hit was a grand slam off the bat of Holly DeLair, who finished the day with seven RBI. Meghan Hughes finished the day 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored. DeLair, Schaeffer and Vill had two hits each to lead the Tigers. Mena Feliciano had the only hit for Dunellen as Vill pitched three innings, striking out six and walking one. SOMERVILLE 15, NORTH BRUNSWICK 1 FLEMINGTON — Angela Colandrea had a double and a triple and drove in the lone run for North Brunswick (0-2), which was out-hit, 20-5 in a game played at Diamond Nation. Nicolette Aloia, Cindy Mihalenko and Jennifer Seitis had the other hits for the Raiders. Taylor Geiger went 4-for-4 with a double, two triples and two RBI to lead Somerville (1-1). PERTH AMBOY 9, SOUTH RIVER 4 PERTH AMBOY — Quiana Starks had a big day, going 3-for-4 at the plate and earning the win for the Panthers (1-1). Mia Molina had a big three-run triple for Amby and Derilis Valerio had two hits, including a triple, and knocked in four. This was the season opener for South River. WARDLAW-HARTRIDGE 10, CALVARY CHRISTIAN 7 Rachel Voeltzel Lacey Gress OLD BRIDGE — Trailing 6-0 after two innings, Wardlaw outscored Calvary Christian 10-1 the rest of the way to post the comefrom-behind victory. Rachel Voeltzel hit her third homer of the young season, a three-run shot, while winning pitcher Lacey Gress went 2-for-4 with four RBI to lead 2-0 Wardlaw. Gabby Hoffman chipped into the attack with two hits for the Rams. This was the season opener for CC, which outhit Wardlaw, 8-7. Boys Lacrosse: Stevens Beats Edison For First Time EDISON — Senior attacker Alex Zias netted four goals and sophomore midfielder Robert DiStefano added three goals and two assists as J.P. Stevens won its first game of the season and beat township rival Edison for the first time in schol history, 11-3 at Stevens. Sophomore attack Chuck Youse chipped into the winning attack with a goal and four assists and goalie Waleed Khan recorded 16 saves. Stevens improved to 1-1, Edison fell to 0-2. SOUTH BRUNSWICK 13, NORTH BRUNSWICK 5 SOUTH BRUNSWICK — Tyler White recorded five goals, three assists and four ground balls to lead South Brunswick past its rival. Matt Golden and Austin Miller posted the same stat line — three goals, two assists and three ground balls — for the Vikings (2-2), while Jeff Wu had a goal and an assist and Joe Ramirez chipped in with three assists. John Slover also scored for South Brunswick and goalie Mike Wu had 10 saves. Brett Krause scored three goals for North Brunswick (0-2), Matt Mueller and Jack Beyer had one each. MONROE 13, EAST BRUNSWICK 3 Sean Gillies MONROE — Junior attack Sean Gillies posted six goals and two assist to lead Monoe, which improved to 3-0 and has outscored its opponents 41-9. Junior Pater Jarosiewicz added three goals and an assist, junior Kyle Tepe scored once and junior goalie Joey Massoni notched 12 saves in goal. Softball Roundup For Wednesday, April 1: No. 2 Piscataway Beats No. 6 Old Bridge, 8-3 SCORES RED DIVISION East Brunswick 15, Edison 0 Piscataway 8, Old Bridge 3 WHITE DIVISION South Plainfield 8, Bishop Ahr 5 Woodbridge at Monroe, ppd. Colonia 3, North Brunswick 0 Kennedy 16, Perth Amboy 12 BLUE DIVISION Spotswood 6, Carteret 2 GOLD DIVISION Timothy Christian 14, Woodbridge Academy 3 Dunellen 17, Dunellen 2 Wardlaw 18, South Amboy 4 NO. 2 PISCATAWAY 8, NO. 6 OLD BRIDGE 3 PISCATAWAY — Trailing 3-2, Piscataway scored three runs in the fourth, keyed by Julia Seader’s two-run triple, and Sarah Ogilvie made it stand up from there in a battle of Top 10 clubs. Emily Brown Old Bridge grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first. The rally started when Bri Laughlin singled. An error then moved Laughlin from first to third. Miranda Wade then doubled, bringing home Laughlin and freshman Jess Ahearn. In the bottom of the first, the Chiefs got one back on an RBI single by Michelle Gebhardt. The two teams each scored a run in third as Old Bridge led 3-2 before Piscataway’s breakout fourth. The Chiefs added three insurance runs in the sixth. A fielder’s choice scored Seader for the inning’s first run. That was followed up by Emily Brown’s two-run single, scoring Gebhardt and Caitlyn Erdman. Brown finished 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI and Seader finished 2-for-4 with a triple and two RBI as Piscataway collected eight hits. Ogilvie, meanwhile, gave up seven hits with no earned runs, striking out eight and walking none. Laughlin was 2-for-4 for Old Bridge, while Wade was 1-for-3 with a double and two RBI. Wade (4 innings) and Alex Grubiak (2) combined for six earned runs with six walks and three strikeouts. NO. 3 EAST BRUNSWICK 15, EDISON 0 Lauren Assennata Brenna Razzano EDISON — Junior Kaleigh Dwyer pitched a 4-hit shutout, and struck out 11, while Samantha Smalley recorded four hits – including a pair of doubles – to lead East Brunswick. Lauren Assennata drove in the first of her three runs with a first-inning double; Brenna Razzano had three hits and Hayley Lipson added two hits and three RBI in the victory. Nicole Gresh had two of Edison’s hits. NO. 4 SOUTH PLAINFIELD 8, NO. 10 BISHOP AHR 5 SOUTH PLAINFIELD — I was in the park for this one. Later tonight, I will have a full recap with multiple pictures, videos and web gems. South Plainfield took a 4-1 lead in the third, keyed by a tworun homer by Caroline Ratti to left-center and an RBI double by Camryn Schaffer. Bishop Ahr came back to tie it in the fourth on a three-run blast to center by Amber LaRocque. But South Plainfield scored four in the fourth on singles by Holly DeLair and Schaffer and pair of fielders choices. Bishop Ahr scored in the top of the seventh and had bases loaded and one out before winning pitcher Katherine Vill closed the door. Schaffer was 2-for-4 with two RBI and Caity Hughes had two hits. LaRocque, Amanda Julve, Katie Eicher and Brandi Carrion all had two hits for Bishop Ahr. Each team had 10 hits. Caroline Ratti (left) provided the power, Caity Hughes the timely hitting and Katherine the clutch pitching COLONIA 3, NORTH BRUNSWICK 0 Kate Brannigan Patricia Daneke COLONIA — North Brunswick’s freshman pitcher Sydney Voelbel gave up just four hits in her varsity debut, but three of them happened to come against senior slugger Kate Brannigan with two of them going over the fence as the Patriots won their opener. Brannigan, a three-year starting shortstop, hit a solo homer in the first and added a two-run shot in the third to finish 3-for-3 with three RBI. That was all Trish Daneke needed as the junior twirled a twohitter with seven strikeouts and three walks. Sisters Rebecca and Andrea Colandrea had the hits for North Brunswick, Rebecca’s was a double. Voelbel struck out 10 and walked two. Jillian Mizak had the other hit for Colonia, a double. KENNEDY 16, PERTH AMBOY 12 Ashley Conroy Kayla Coleman ISELIN — Kennedy, three outs away from being 10-runned, trailed 11-1 at one point and 12-5 before scoring 11 runs in the bottom of the sixth to pull out a wild one. In the sixth, a leadoff error opened the floodgates as Kayla Coleman hit an RBI double, followed by an RBI double by Ashley Conroy and a two-run double by freshman Katarina Novoczynski. Coleman finished 3-for-3 with three doubles and three RBI, Conroy was 2-for-4 with two RBI. Here was the writeup from Kennedy coach Maureen Gallagher: Perth Amboy controlled the game for 4 1/2 innings. They scored one in the first, two in the 3rd and seven in the fourth inning. They took an 11-1 lead going into the bottom of the 5th. Poor defense combined with a few walks and hit batter coupled with a few big hits by Denise Rosa and Nicole Rivera led to the big lead. Three 3 outs from being 10-runned, the Mustangs offense woke up. They scored 4 in the home 5th and erupted with 11 in the 6th. In the 6th, Madison Buttita got on by an error and Kayla Coleman hit her second consecutive RBI double. Ashley Conroy followed her with her own RBI double and a big 2 RBI single off the bat of freshman Katarina Novoczynski. In the final frame, Rosa led off with a single but was doubled off first after a fly ball to center was caught. The last out of the game was a hot line drive back to Coleman. SPOTSWOOD 6, CARTERET 2 CARTERET — Olivia Hellerich went 3-for-4, Julie Raba added two hits, Gabby Pietanza had a double and two RBI and Alexa Raba earned the win for the Chargers. Alexa Raba scattered nine hits, struck out three and walked one. Nicole Casale led Carteret with two hits, including a double. Spotswood grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first, then scored four in the fourth to claim a 5-0 lead. DUNELLEN 17, HIGHLAND PARK 2 DUNELLEN — Dunellen made its return to the Gold Division a memorable one as junior Emily Cody led the way at the plate and in the circle. Cody finished 4-for-4 with four singles and five RBI and gave up four hits and one earned run in five innings with four strikeouts. The Destroyers belted it out 19 hits as junior Mena Feliciano was 3-for-4 with a triple, three RBI and four runs scored and Caitlin Markus added a two-run double. Highland Park senior Nyahjah Boykins had an RBI triple and made several outstanding plays at third. WARDLAW 18, SOUTH AMBOY 4 Rachel Voeltzel Sam Anastasiou SOUTH AMBOY — Rachel Voeltzel went 2-for-3 two homers, five RBI and three runs scored to lead a balanced attack as the Rams rolled. Sam Anastasiou went 3-for-3 with a double, a homer and four RBI and Brittney Wilson was 2-for-2 with a double and four RBI. Lacey Gress was the winner in this four-inning tilt, giving up two hits and two earned runs, striking out three and walking four. Meaghan McCarthy and Vicky Reilly had the hits for South Amboy. TIMOTHY CHRISTIAN 14, WOODBRIDGE ACADEMY 4 Michaela Csorny WOODBRIDGE — Jenna Collier went 3-for-6 with two doubles and four RBI to pace Timothy Christian. Michaela Csorny was 3-for-5 with two RBI, while Megan Collier and Meribeth Brookman each had two RBI. Jacinda Pujols had two hits and an RBI for Woodbridge Academy. North Brunswick Softball Preview: Raiders Looking To Improve HEAD COACH: SARAH DILLER, 18th season COACHING STAFF: VARSITY ASSISTANT: KATY MCMANUS ECHEVARRIA VOLUNTEER VARSITY ASSISTANT: JOEL CHESLER JV: DANI NUDELMAN FROSH: LYNDSAY BECK WERNER OPENING DAY: Today at Colonia, 4 LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 1-18 LAST YEAR’S JV RECORD: 4-12 LAST YEAR’S FRESHMAN RECORD: 0-8 TOTAL NUMBER OF STARTERS GRADUATED FROM LAST YEAR: 1 TOTAL NUMBER OF LETTERWINNERS GRADUATED: 1 GRADUATES OF NOTE: Molly Kuchler, Pitcher STARTERS RETURING: Rebecca Colandrea Nicolette Aloia Sr. C/OF .340 Rebecca Colandrea Sr. 3rd Base Cindy Mihelenko Sr. SS Ashley Gorda Jr. Liz Ruffe Jr. IF OTHER PLAYERS RETURNING: Jennifer Seitis Jr. Jessica Leiner Jr. Amanda Farrell Jr. TOP NEWCOMERS: All Freshmen: Sydney Voelbel (P) Katrina Lauri (2B/OF) Angela Colendrea (IF) .393 TEAM STRENGTHS: “The return of 3 senior varsity starters Nicolette Aloia, Rebecca Colandrea and Cindy Mihelanko, all on the infield.” TEAM WEAKNESSES: “As usual, with no outdoor preseason practice time except 2 scrimmages, the Raiders are extremely rusty and will need time to pull together and have consistency.” TEAM GOALS: “To get the freshman acclimated to the varsity field and playing with the returners to enable the Raiders to be competitive in the White Division and ultimately improve on last year’s record.” SEASON OUTLOOK: “We do have 3 returning senior varsity starters who we will look to set the tone and embrace the addition of several freshmen to the starting lineup. We expect all the players to accept the challenge to step up and set their goals on team success, which for us means to be competitive in the White Division and to improve on our record from last season.” TRANSFERS IN/OUT: Julia Flores (Jr.) in from New Brunswick KIDS PLAYING IN COLLEGE: Marylynn Muldowney, University of Rhode Island GMC Boys Lacrosse Standings/Schedule For The Week GMC STANDINGS (Overall record in parenthesis) Old Bridge (2-0) 0-0 Monroe (1-0) 0-0 St. Joseph (1-1) 0-0 J.P. Stevens (0-1) 0-0 So. Brunswick (0-2) 0-0 No. Brunswick (0-2) 0-0 Edison (0-2) 0-0 East Brunswick (0-2) 0-0 Monroe’s Erik Anderson on the attack (Photo by A. Perry) THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE MONDAY, MARCH 30 Red Bank at Old Bridge, 4 St. Rose vs. Monroe, 4 South Brunswick at Warren Hills, 4:15 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1 Old Bridge at St. Joe’s, 4 East Brunswick at Monroe, 4 Edison at J.P. Stevens, 4 North Brunswick at South Brunswick, 4 SATURDAY, APRIL 4 Old Bridge at St. John Vianney, 10 St. Joe’s at Sachem North (Conn.), 10 Middletown North at East Brunswick, 10 Notre Dame at South Brunswick, 10 (With Video) Don Zsak Named As North Brunswick's New Head Football Coach NORTH BRUNSWICK – Don Zsak is 1-0 as a head football coach. After serving 25 years as an assistant coach, Zsak applied for first head coaching job when North Brunswick became open in January after Mark Zielinski stepped down after 12 seasons. On Wednesday night, he got it. Donald Zsak, who has coached at five different schools as an assistant coach in Union and Morris County’s, was appointed as the new head football coach at the township’s Board of Education meeting. “It’s the first head job I ever applied for,” said Zsak, a Scotch Plains resident. “I feel relieved that the wait is over, now I can’t wait to meet the kids and get into weight room because we’re a little behind. I’m a firm believer that all success starts in the weight room, so that’s step one. “My ultimate goal here is to get a ring, that’s not a joke. I’m not going to say it’s going to be easy, but I’m not a guy who is happy with second place.” The hiring of Zsak, pronounced Zak, leaves two GMC schools without head football coaches — J.P. Stevens and Monroe. Stevens Athletic Director Kathy McKean said on Tuesday the school is in the process of interviewing candidates. Monroe AD Greg Beyer said on Tuesday that process will begin next week before a search panel. Zsak, sometimes referred to as Coach Z, will replace former head coach Mark Zielinski, also known as Coach Z. Zielinski, who played football at Columbia University, had been associated with North Brunswick football for over 20 years – nine as an assistant coach and the last 12 as head coach. The Raiders enjoyed success under Zielinski, but were 5-25 the last three seasons, which is when the school jumped up from the White Division to the larger Red Division. North Brunswick finished 55-66 under Zielinski, who resigned earlier this year. Zsak comes in as a highly-respected defensive guru who has coached high school football as an assistant for 25 years, the last 10 at Morristown under Chris Hull, who came to the Morris County school with Zsak after many years in Union County together. With Zsak on the staff at Morristown the last 10 years, the Colonials were 54-48-2 and won the Group 3 title. North Jersey Section 2, Hull spoke about Zsak like they were brothers. “He is like a brother to me, he’s family, we’ve been together a total of 17 years,” said Hull. “Don is a leader, he knows exactly what he wants to do and he has a way of getting kids on the same page with him. He’s energetic, he’s passionate, he has a strong personality and it all comes through. “He is a great person, intelligent a little old school. I think he will do a tremendous job, they got themselves a good one. He’s been looking forward to this, it’s his time.” Donald Zsak (Photo mhscolonialsfoo tball.com) Elizabeth head coach John Quinn is another coach with Union, Morris and Middlesex County (New Brunswick) connections who thinks North Brunswick made a good choice. “Donny is a well-respected guy,” said Quinn. “I’ve known him for many years from being in North Jersey coaching circles and I’ve coached against him. He’s a good guy and a good coach and I wish him well. The GMC Red Division is very tough, but he should do well.” “My first priority here is to get everyone on the same page, in the same boat,” said Zsak. “Then we can start working together. If we work our tails off in practice and in the games, we can walk out and take a look at the scoreboard. If we take care of our preparation and work hard together, I think the wins and losses will take care of themselves.” When introducing Zsak to the Board members, Athletic Director Lou Emmanuel took them through the process. “The first step was fishing through all the resumes,” said Emmanuel, a former player and assistant coach at Sayreville. “After we chose eight coaches, we brought them into meet with our panel, which consisted of a wide variety of people from NBTHS and the town. “Then, after we had it down to four candidates, I met with Pete Clark (principal) and John Patela (assistant superintendent) and came up with our guy to recommend to the Board. “We had so many good candidates, but we really believe coach Zsak was the best fit for our school. He came from Morristown, which is a similar school to ours and we’re so excited because he is bringing in fresh, new concepts.” Zsak is a Union County guy. A resident of Scotch Plains, he retired in 2010 from a 25-year run in law enforcement, beginning as a police officer in Cranford and ending with a job in the FBI. “I’ve been interested in a head coaching job for a little while, but I couldn’t retire from my job in law enforcement,” said Zsak. “But when retired and I saw this job had opened, I just thought it was a perfect fit, so I have to thank the administration and the board for having confidence in me.” Zsak was a three-sport athlete at Linden and was an All-State baseball player before playing baseball at Upsala College in East Orange. Zsak has coached football at Johnson, Roselle Park, Cranford and Scotch Plains, all in Union County. Morristown the last 10 seasons 2005: 5-5 2006: 8-3 2007: 9-2 2008: 5-4-1 2009: 5-5 2010: 8-4* 2011: 4-6 2012: 2-7-1 2013: 3-7 2014: 5-5 Total: 54-48-2 *-North 2, Group 3 crown GMC Boys Lacrosse Opens On Wednesday Season Although the preseason was cut a little short due to the brutal weather, school closings and unplayable field conditions, the 2015 boys lacrosse regular season will open up on Wednesday. The GMC will feature nine schools this season as Bishop Ahr is expected to field a team this season for the first time. MONROE PREVIEW ST. JOSEPH PREVIEW EAST BRUNSWICK PREVIEW WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25 Old Bridge at Scotch Plains, 4 West Windsor North at So. Brunswick, 4 Brick Memorial at North Brunswick, 4 Rutgers Prep at St. Joe’s, 4:30 Morris Catholic at J.P. Stevens, 4:30 East Brunswick at Hightstown, 5:30 THURSDAY, MARCH 26 Manasquan at Monroe, 4 Edison at Holmdel, 5 FRIDAY, MARCH 27 Governor Livingston at Old Bridge, 4 Princeton at South Brunswick, 4 Brick Township at North Brunswick, 4 SATURDAY, MARCH 28 St. Joe’s at Scotch Plains, 10 St. John Vianney at East Brunswick, 11 Edison at Middletown North, 11:30 Boys Basketball Final Top 10 1. COLONIA (24-5): Best season in school’s 48-year history as the Pats won the White Division title, the GMC Tournament title and the North 2, Group 3 Tournament crown all in the same season for the first time. J.J. Corbett Starters J.J. Corbett, Brandon Haines, Chase Barneys and Jodrell Thompson all started for the best football team and basketball team in school history (11-1). They were a combined 35-6 against all competition as seniors in the two sports combined, including 28-0 against Middlesex County. Senior center Pat Nagiub emerged as a force on both ends of the floor, while reserves Kolby Chapman, Trevor Bevilacqua and Dez Jackson could have been starters on the majority of GMC teams. Returning: Barneys, Chapman. Colonia starting five, from left: Brandon Haines, Pat Nagiub, J.J. Corbett. Chase Barneys, Jodrell Thompson 2. ST. JOSEPH (21-5): Considering four players went on to Division 1 schools and 5,000 career points Breein Tyree Branislav Vujadinovic graduated as well, the Falcons turned in an outstanding season, losing in the GMC only to Colonia in the GMCT final, snapping a 43-game losing streak against the conference and a 23-game GMCT winning streak. Breein Tyree, the lone player back with varsity experience, took the team on his back and delivered with the help of offensive sidekick Branislav ‘Ben’ Vujadinovic. Returning: Tyree, Vujadinovic, Mike Granda, Bryan Carley and members of a 20-win JV team which reached the East Brunswick Invitational JV Tournament final. 3. PERTH AMBOY (14-10): The Panthers began the season 1-4 before coming on strong. After losing to Old Bridge, East Brunswick and South Brunswick, Amboy wound up avenging all three losses, including South Brunswick twice. The only other GMC losses came against St. Joseph three times with all three games being competitive. After not posting a winning season since 2006-07, Amboy has posted two straight. Returning: Jonny Jones, Ethon Diaz. Perth Amboy’s starting five after beating South Brunswick, from left: Eddie Griggs, John Wahrmann, Carlos Done, Johnny Jones, Nate Melendez 4. EAST BRUNSWICK (16-8): The Bears were led by a trio of talented juniors in Matt Ross, Addis Ralph and Mike Vick Matt Ross Mike Vick. Disciplined and well-rounded, East Brunswick was a tough match-up for every opponent every night and the future looks bright with its three best players returning. Returning: Ross, Vick, Ralph, Justin Sewnarine. 5. CARDINAL MCCARRICK (21-5): The Eagles came in with a new coach (Ben Gamble), a new team (seven transfers) and took the GMC by storm, winning its first 19 games, which included wins at CBA and against Hudson County notable Marist. Although Gamble never used it an excuse, the Eagles were decimated by injuries at the end of the season. In its 20 th game, against 22-6 Rutgers Prep, McCarrick took the Somerset County power down to the wire before bowing despite being down to just five healthy players since three members of the eightman rotation were injured. Finally starting to get healthy for the State Tournament, starter Hodari Bazemore then came down with an injury and curtailed his effectiveness. Returning: NyQuan Combs, Gilberto Cue, Josh Green, Eijah Mitchell, Bryan Harris. Cardinal McCarrick starting five, from left: Santiago Dervishaj, Hodari Bazemore, NyQuan McCombs, Gilberto Cue, Elijah Mitchell 6. CARTERET (16-8): The Ramblers went out and scheduled up and it showed as they proved to be a tough out – losing to Colonia 51-46 in the GMCT semis and to Orange in overtime in the state tournament. All of Carteret’s losses came against winning teams, which included two close ones to McCarrick. Jaquan Robertson leaves as Carteret’s second all-time leading scorer with 1,482 points and Brandon Gilder also finished with over 1,000. Returning: Jemar Jordan, Ahmad Kennedy. Carteret’s starting five, from left Amir Alford, Vincent Montgomery, Brandon Gilder, Ra’Keem Bennett, Jaquan Robertson 7. NORTH BRUNSWICK (11-12): It was a roller-coaster ride for the Raiders in their first season since moving to the Red Division. North Brunswick lost a few games it did not expect to, but it also beat South Brunswick three times, including two in convincing fashion, as well as beating Hillsborough and Hunterdon Central, while losing close ones to ranked teams in St. Joe’s, Perth Amboy and East Brunswick. Returning: Pranay Bhandare, Francis Omowole. North Brunswick, from left, Pranay Bhandare, Kishan Patel, L.J. Williams, Joe Castellanos, Eric Slade and Dante Anderson 8. SOUTH BRUNSWICK (14-9): The Vikings beat East Brunswick twice, but it had its struggles with North Brunswick, losing all three meetings. The Vikings also beat Carteret. The Vikings received a tough blow when Terrance Wong, who was averaging a double-double in four straight games, was lost for the season with a leg injury after the team’s eighth game. Returning: Michael Ugarte, Ty Juan Dugger, Jaier Garrett, Sean Nally, Eric Savage and members from a JV team which won the East Brunswick JV Invitational. South Brunswick players from left Terrence Wong, Jack Engel, Eric Savage Zahneer Shuler Zaire Robinson 9. WOODBRIDGE (18-9): The second best team in the White Division behind Colonia, the Barrons used a nucleus from the school’s highly-successful football team and it translated into an 18-win season. After not having a winning season since the 1988-89 season, Woodbridge has reeled off three straight winners and is 53-26 over that stretch. Returning: Quaasim Glover, Keshaun Henry. 10. MONROE (14-10): This was the toughest pick of them all. The Falcons lost to Red Division affiliate Old Bridge and the Red Division did finish 10-2 vs. the White this season. One of those was J.P. Stevens beating Old Bridge, a Stevens team Monroe beat twice. But you can’t base a spot on just one game or two for that matter, so we went with the overall record (Old Bridge was 10-14). For the record, Sayreville was also considered for this pick. Monroe Returning: Eddie Pinto, Rico Viani, Jared Simmons. Old Bridge Returning: Connor Romano, Stephen Strom, Luis Cruz, Kyle Parris, Will Osvald. Sayreville Returning: Jahsim Floyd, Jayson DeMild, Zach Alessi, Derek Astarita. Monroe players with their mothers from left Alex Infosino, Tyler Salzer and Matt Cocorikis (Photo by Roy DeBoer) Updated: A Blog Dedicated To GMC Coaches Earlier this week when St. Joe’s coach Dave Turco won his 400th career game, his older brother Bob won his 200th game at Notre Dame. On the same night! Dave Turco (left) with his brother Bob Bob got into the coaching business a bit later than Dave. In fact, when he started out in the business, he was on Dave’s bench at Carteret and then South Brunswick before taking his first job as a head coach at Monroe. Bob Turco turned the Monroe program around, going 107-43 in five seasons from 2005 to 2010. He led the school to its: * First 20-win season – going 24-5 and 23-5. * First division title – tying for the White in 05-06 and winning it outright in 09-10. * First GMC Tournament final game appearance, losing to his brother. Bob Turco moved over to Notre Dame and picked up where he left off at Monroe. In five seasons at the Mercer County school, Turco is 103-35. His 10-year total is 200-78. DAVE TURCO WINS 400TH GAME Together, the Turco’s have a combined record of 600-190 (Dave is 400-112). In 29 combined seasons, the Turco’s have had just one losing season and that was a 13-14 year in 06-07 for Monroe. If Notre Dame can get by top-seeded St. Augustine on Friday and St. Joe’s can get by Union Catholic, the Turco’s would meet again in the Non-Public, South A semifinals on Saturday night. I’ve known the Turco’s for quite a while now. I covered Dave when he played baseball and basketball at Carteret (Class of 1988) and Bob as well when he played football and basketball at CHS (Class of 1981). Dave went on to play hoops at Moravian, Bob played football at New Hampshire. Two of fiercest competitors you will meet on the court and two of the nicest guys off the court. Thinking about the Turco’s, it got me to thinking about coaches who I used to cover when they were in high school. It got me thinking about GMC coaches who have moved on … I just started thinking about local coaches in general, so I came up with the following: ALL ACCESS CARDINAL MCCARRICK ALL ACCESS MONROE ALL ACCESS EAST BRUNSWICK ALL ACCESS DUNELLEN ALL ACCESS J.P. STEVENS ALL ACCESS WOODBRIDGE ALL ACCESS ST. JOSEPH VOL. 1 ALL ACCESS ST. JOSEPH VOL. 2 (GMCT FINAL) Note: I’m sure I’ve missed a few people who belong on these lists, so please leave any information you have in the comments box. FORMER GMC HEAD COACHES AT OTHER SCHOOLS: Ridge coach Brian Feath (left) with Plainfield’s Jeff Lubreski Jeff Lubreski from South Plainfield to Plainfield. Chris Balent from So. Brunswick to Elizabeth. Bob Turco from Monroe to Notre Dame. Mark Taylor from St. Joe’s to Ridge to St. Benedict’s. Brian Feath from Middlesex to Ridge. FORMER HEAD COACHES WHO ARE NOW ASSISTANTS Ray Newman head coach at JFK, assistant at Metuchen Jimmy Lane head coach Rumson and Monmouth, assistant at Metuchen John Dolan head coach at Carteret assistant, at JFK Rory Levine head coach at New Brunswick, assistant at Old Bridge Bill Killduff head coach at multiple schools, assistant at St. Joe’s Perth Amboy Tech assistant coach Felix Romero was the head coach when the Manasquan girls won the T of C in 2011-12 (Photo by Cliff Ross) Jose Rodriguez head coach Carteret, assistant at St. Joe’s Felix Romero head coach Manasquan girls, assistant at Perth Amboy Tech Lenny Reyes head coach Metuchen and So. Amboy, assistant at Woodbridge Mike DelVerasano head coach at South River, assistant at Spotswood Bill Schulte head boys and girls coach at So. Plainfield, assistant at South Plainfield DID YOU KNOW? Former Kennedy coach Ray Newman (left) and former Perth Amboy coach John Mazurek When Perth Amboy’s legendary team of 1967-68 won the Group 4 state title led by Brian Taylor, Ray Newman was a top assistant. Ray went on to become the head coach at Kennedy for many years and is still at it as the Metuchen freshman coach. Brian Taylor once told me that Ray was the defensive mastermind on that incredible team. SPECIAL MENTION Tony Newsom Former J.P. Stevens and Niagara standout Tony Newsom has been a college assistant coach lifer. After five seasons at Rider, three years at Holy Cross and seven at Pinceton, Newsom has been at Fairfield for the past four seasons. He is now the associate head coach for the Stags. One day soon I hope to see head coach Tony Newsom as the title. MISCELLANEOUS Jason Donnelly * Former Colonia player Jason Donnelly is ‘the special assistant to the head coach’ at Villanova. * Former Colonia standout Dennis DoBois is the head coach at Hillside. * Former St. Peter’s player Bill Leahy is an assistant coach at Widener. * Former Piscataway and Hartford star Justin Bailey began his first season as head coach at Pedro Menendes High School in Florida. * Fomer Edison player Mike Nausedas is the head coach at Marlboro. * Former East Brunswick standout Joey Ross is a student intern coach at Cornell. * Former St. Joe’s player Preston Beverly is the head coach at Lincoln College. Justin Bailey * Piscataway girls coach Dave Kosa was a former head coach at Monroe. * Former Rutgers great Darius Griffin is an assistant at Piscataway. * Former Pinceton player Jim Lane is an assistant coach at Metuchen. * Carissa Meyer, the daughter of Amboy Tech head coach John Meyer, is the girls head coach at Roselle. * St. Joe’s assistant coach Bill Kilduff was once an assistant coach at Rutgers. PREMIER WOMEN’S COACHES Rhonda Rompola with Geno Auriemma Chris Dailey Auriemma with Geno Rhonda Rompola, the all-time leading scorer at Sayreville (1,608, Class of 1978), who went on to a stellar career at Old Dominion, then SMU, has been the head coach SMU since 1991. RHONDA ROMPOLA’S RESUME CHRIS DAILEY’S RESUME She has an overall coaching record of 408-285. Chris Dailey, a 1,000-point scorer at St. Peter’s of New Brunswick (closed) and a standout at Rutgers, is in her 29 th season as an assistant coach at Connecticut under Gino Auriemma. Dailey has been the associate head coach at UConn since 1988. Tony Bozzella One more girls note: Tony Bozzella of Seton Hall was named Big East Coach of the Year. Bozzella started his coaching career at St. Mary’s-South Amboy (now Cardinal McCarrick) in the 1980s. Bozzella started his college head coaching career at LIUSouthampton and moved on to LIU-Brooklyn and Iona before taking over the Seton Hall program. This is his second season coaching Seton Hall, his alma mater COACHES WHO HAVE WON GMCT TITLES St. Joe’s coach Dave Turco (left) and No. Brun’s Ed Breheney Dave Turco, St. Joe’s 6 (1 with Carteret) Guy Jensen, Metuchen 2 (Both at Piscataway) Chris Chiera, Colonia 1 Eddie Breheney, North Brunswick 1 GMC HEAD COACHES WHO PLAYED AT THEIR ALMA MATER Mugsy White, Carteret Chris Chiera, Colonia Mark Motusesky, East Brunswick Woobridge coach Matt Gigliello (left) and John Wojcik of Sayreville John Wojcik, Sayreville John Zammit, South Amboy Rodney Harris, South River 1,000-POINT SCORERS Eugene Maxell, Wardlaw (West Grove, Pa.) Chris Hobbs, Timothy Christian (Victory Christian, N.J.) Art Tooles, New Brunswick (Coatesville, Pa.) COACHES WHO PLAYED D 1 Carteret coach Mugsy White (left) with South Plainfield coach Matt Connell Mike Gordon, Piscataway Tech (Binghamton) Art Tooles, New Brunsick (Siena) Chris Chiera, Colonia (Monmouth, 1 year) Antoine Allen, Piscataway (St. Peter’s) CURRENT AD’S WHO WERE HEAD COACHES Carl Buffalino, South River Bill Visokay, Spotswood (girls) Jerry Smith Gil Pritchard, McCarrick Kathy McKean, Stevens (girls) Al Czech, So. Plainfield (Bishop Ahr girls) Nick Pizzulli, Sayreville (Red Bank) Elaine McGrath, South Brunswick (Highland Park girls, others) Jerry Smith, St. Joe’s (Piscataway Tech, Woodbridge) Neptune Cardona, Perth Amboy (girls) Note: Timothy Christian head coach Chris Hobbs is also the AD. WHERE THEY PLAYED IN HIGH SCHOOL Bishop Ahr coach Dennis O’Keefe (left) and North Brunswick’s Dennis O’Keefe have a combined 726 victories Bishop Ahr: Dennis O’Keefe, Delbarton Cardinal McCarrick: Ben Gamble, St. Anthony Carteret: Mugsy White, Carteret Colonia: Chris Chiera, Colonia Dunellen: Bernie Buniak, Union Catholic East Brunswick: Mark Motusesky, East Brunswick Edison: Charlie Mohr, St. John Vianney Highland Park: Derek Nobles, Wallington Cardinal McCarrick head coach Ben Gamble (left) and Carteret’s Herman ‘Mugsy’ White before the game Kennedy: Andrew Hill, Carteret Metuchen: Guy Jensen, Kennedy Middlesex: Jared Goldstein, Hillsborough Monroe: Nick Puleio, Long Branch New Brunswick: Art Tooles, Coatesville, Pa. North Brunswick: Eddie Breheney, Roselle Catholic Old Bridge: Jim Macomber, Matawan Perrh Amboy coach Edwin Santana (right) with Joe Hoehman of South Brunswick before the game Perth Amboy: Edwin Santana (did not play at Amboy) Perth Amboy Tech: John Meyer, Hudson Catholic Piscataway: Antoine Allen, Linden Piscataway Tech: Mike Gordon, Plainfield St. Joe’s: Dave Turco, Carteret Sayreville: John Wojcik, Sayreville South Amboy: John Zammit, South Amboy South Brunswick: Joe Hoehman, Hoffman (now South Amboy) South Plainfield: Matt Connell, Wallington East Brunswick coach Mark Motusesky (left) and James Macomber of Old Bridge South River: Rodney Harris, South River Spotswood: Steve Mate, Lincoln (N.Y.) J.P. Stevens: Bobby Jones, Sayreville Timothy Christian, Chris Hobbs, Victory Christian (N.J.) Wardlaw: Eugene Maxwell, West Grove, Pa. Woodbridge: Matt Gigliello, Monroe HEAD COACHING EXPERIENCE Dennis O’Keefe 33 years (23 at Bishop Ahr, 10 at BayleyEllard) Eddie Breheney 28 years (26 at North Brunswick, 2 at Sayreville) Monroe coach Nick Puleio (left) and Colonia coach Chris Chiera before the game Steve Mate 24 years (20 at Spotswood, 4 at Verona) Dave Turco 19 years (10 at St. Joe’s, 3 at So. Brunswick, 6 at Carteret) Eugene Maxwell 15 years (2 at Wardlaw, 13 at Summit) Chris Hobbs 13 years (8 at TC, 5 at Emmanuel Christian, Va.) Bernier Buniak 12 years (10 at Dunellen, 1 at Rahway, 1 at Roselle Park) Charlie Mohr 12 seasons (All at Edison) Art Tooles 12 years (1 at New Brunswick, 3 at Middlesex, 8 Franklin girls) Chris Chiera 9 years (All at Colonia) Perth Amboy Tech coach John Meyer (left) and Bernie Buniak of Dunellen Guy Jensen 9 years (1 at Metuchen, 8 at Piscataway) Derek Nobles 9 years (All at Highland Park) Antoine Allen 8 years (3 at Piscataway, 5 at New Brunswick) Joe Hoehman 8 years (All at South Brunswick) Edwin Santana 7 years (All at Perth Amboy) Rodney Harris 6 years (All at South River) Mugsy White 6 years (All at Carteret) John Meyer 6 years (All at Perth Amboy Tech) Jeff Staples 6 years (All at EB Tech) East Brunswick coach Mark Motusesky (left) with Andrew Hill of Kennedy Bobby Jones 6 years (All at Stevens) John Wojcik 5 years (All at Sayreville) Nick Puleio 5 years (All at Monroe) Ben Gamble 4 years (1 at McCarrick, 3 at Hudson Catholic) Matt Gigliello 3 years (All at Woodbridge) Jim Macomber 3 years (All at Old Bridge) Mark Motusesky 2 years (Both at East Brunswick) Matt Connell 2 years (Both at South Plainfield) John Zammit 1 year (South Amboy) Colonia coach Chris Chiera (left) and Antoine Allen of Piscataway Mike Gordon 1 year (Piscataway Tech) Jared Goldstein 1 year (Middlesex) Andrew Hill 1 year (Kennedy) Piscataway Tech coach Mike Gordon (left) and John Meyer of Perth Amboy Tech Steve Mate of Spotswood (left) and Mark Motusesky of East Brunswick Bishop Ahr’s veteran coaching staff Rocky Prosdocimo (left), head coach Dennis O’Keefe (center) and Bob Johnston J.P. Stevens head coach Bobby Jones (left) with Edwin Santana of Perth Amboy Timothy Christian coach Chris Hobbs and Bernie Buniak of Dunellen South River coach Rodney Harris Brunswick Tech’s Jeff Staples (left) with East John F. Kennedy coaching staff, from left Alex Iachetta, Jon Toczynski, Andrew Hill (head), John Dolan From leftFrank Noppenberger, Joe Hoehman, Bo Henning, Bob Henning The St. Joseph coaching staff. Top row from left Jose Rodriguez, Eric Lemberakis, Mark Nichols. Bottom, head coach Dave Turco and Bill ‘Killer’ Kilduff Carteret coaching staff, from left Brian Hennessy, Herman ‘Mugsy’ White (Head), Brian Kenney Woodbridge coaches Charlie Titus, Matt Gigliello (head) and Brandon Hall