Knights post their first state tourney win
BY WARREN RAPPLEYEA
Staff Writer

The Old Bridge High School girls lacrosse team picked up its first win in state tournament play on Monday, besting rival East Brunswick, 10-6.

Amber Zimmerlink pumped in five goals. Katie Fitzpatrick added a pair of tallies and an assist, and Sam Kochie, Genevieve Vidas and Laura Rumolo rounded out the scoring to give the Lady Knights the win in the first round of the NJSIAA Group IV North tourney. Old Bridge controlled the ball throughout most of the contest and out shot the Bears 25-15.

"One of our goals was to win our first state tournament game, so the girls are very happy about that," coach Steve Gajewski said. "They slid and moved well and we had six assists."

Gajewski's team was scheduled to visit powerful Hillsborough for a second round game yesterday afternoon.

Overall, Old Bridge is 12-6 on the year, made its way to the Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) finals and for the second straight year played North Brunswick. A year ago the Lady Knights won 10-9 in the fourth overtime, but this time around they fell short, losing an 11-6 decision.

Throughout the campaign Old Bridge played a possession game and while the Lady Knights like to hold onto the ball they certainly know how to put it in the net when opportunities arise. Zimmerlink, a junior midfielder, leads the Lady Knights with 71 goals and 32 assists, both team records.

Kochie, another junior midfielder, posted 48 goals, while Rumolo and Vidas, both attackers, have contributed 25 and 20 goals, respectively. Courtney McNallan, another junior middie, has 17 goals despite somewhat limited playing time as she continues to recover from a torn ACL.

Fitzpatrick, meanwhile, is among the best at bringing the ball up the field, Gajewski said. An excellent two-way player, she has 11 goals and is rarely caught out of position. Fitzpatrick, Rumolo, Vidas, and goalie Diana Langan are the only seniors on the team.

"We're fortunate to have good senior leadership because most of the team is young," the coach said.

"That's been tremendously helpful and their leadership will be felt after they graduate because most of our team will be back."

The Old Bridge defense has been solid as well in front of goalies Heather Kesselman, a junior, and Langan. Juniors Susan Kelly and Emily Tetley, along with sophomore Mary Honan have played well in the middle, while junior Michelle DeFillippo and sophomore Christine Cannon have been steady on the back line. In addition, Nina Veneziale has made her presence felt on defense becoming the first freshman to play for Gajewski's varsity contingent.

"The girls work hard and they've overcome a lot of nagging injuries this season," Gajewski said. "Our games are generally not high-scoring affairs, we stress possession of the ball and good positioning. The girls have to be alert and play as a team. And they do, we don't have any 'me first' players here."

Postseason has local athletes

very busy

While Old Bridge is the only local girls team still playing in the state tournament, there are several local teams in the other spring sports still pursuing state championships.

In boys lacrosse, the Old Bridge Knights were given the 12th-seed in the Group IV bracket, and took on fifth-seeded Columbia last night. The winner gets either Eastern (seeded fourth) or Jackson Memorial (seeded 13th) on Saturday in the quarterfinals.

South Brunswick, the GMCT champions, are the third seed in this bracket, while St. Joseph, who gave the Vikings all they could handle before losing, 9-8, in the GMCT finals on Sunday, are the eighth seed in the Non-Public A bracket.

In boys volleyball, the East Brunswick Bears are poised to begin their annual state title run, having wrapped up their pursuit of a GMC title last night against St. Joseph.

The Bears are seeded second in the NJSIAA South bracket behind Southern Regional, and will take on the winner of Tuesday's Clearview-J.P. Stevens match later today in the second round.

St. Joe's is the third seed, while Old Bridge was given the fifth seed. The Knights will face the winner of Tuesday's Cinnaminson-Bridgewater match-up later today. The third round of this tournament is set for next Wednesday.

The NJSIAA's singles and doubles tennis tournament is scheduled to begin on June 2, and a handful of local players will be in action.

In singles action, Sayreville's Andrew Musyoka will take on Bayonne's Anthony Stefanski in the first round at Mercer County Park. The second round will be held later in the day.

Spotswood's Justin Carlson will also be in action at Mercer County Park on June 2, as he takes on St. Augustine's Charles Berenato.

In doubles action, East Brunswick's Sahil Sheth and Mike Wu will be in action at Veteran's Park in Hamilton Township, as will Monroe's Matt Sepe and Kevin Murtha, South River's Pete Koutsoupias and Jan Juardro, and Sayreville's Jonathon Koffler and Jay Patel.

The next two rounds of the doubles tournament will be held on June 3, again at Veterans Park.

Track and field action moves to the state level this weekend as well, with the NJSIAA State Sectionals, the first step towards the MOC.

Central Jersey Groups I and IV will travel to Hillsborough High School today and tomorrow while Monmouth Regional is the site of the Central Jersey Group II and III competitions. The top six finishers in each event at the sectionals moves on to next weekend's State Groups Championships.