BIG STATE SPORTS BOYS LACROSSE POWER RANKINGS – WEEK 6

Rankings compiled by Unsettled Situation hosts Steve Manitta & Sal Marinello.

It’s been an absolutely wild season of boys lacrosse in New Jersey this spring. Powerhouses have been rolling, undefeated teams have fallen, and county tournament season is heating up. Last week was particularly wild, causing major shake-ups in our rankings, with one team dropping out, two new teams joining the fray, and all others except one moving from their previous spot. With that, let’s take a look at our Top 20.

20) Sparta Spartans (12-2, Previously: NR)

Outside of losses to Ramapo and Morris Knolls, the Spartans have been on a heck of a run this season. Sophomores Marco Aquino and Eddie Brown have burst onto the scene in their first varsity season combining for 80 points, and proving to be excellent compliments to junior Matt Cerelli and senior Hunter Takacs. So far, Sparta have cruised through the HWS tournament, disposing of Newton and Hunterdon Central by a combined score of 22-3. Only Pope John stands in the way of their first title since 2016.

19) Morris Knolls Golden Eagles (12-1, Previously: 20)

There’s got to be something special in the Rockaway water, because Knolls’ athletics have been rolling this school year, and their boys lacrosse is a big part of it. The Golden Eagles responded well from their first loss of the season against Christian Brothers and ripped off five wins in a row, including a victory against Sparta. Seniors Kyle Hardie and Jack Martinez have chipped in 53 points apiece, and Nick Sciacca has been unreal in net, saving 66.4% of shots. They’re the number five seed in a stacked Morris County Tournament, but could find themselves on the right side of a couple of big upsets.

18) Gill St. Bernards Knights (8-3, Previously: 18)

The defining Non-Public B champions have held steady this past week splitting a pair of matchups. Their offensive explosion against Delaware Valley showed the state what this team is capable of when they’re clicking on all cylinders. Junior superstar Max Voigt posted his fifth game of at least six points while sophomore Griffin O’Sullivan tallied his first hat trick of the season. The Knights will find themselves as the five seed in the Somerset County Tournament, and the top seed in the Prep-B.

17) Bridgewater-Raritan Panthers (7-4, Previously: NR)

May has been kind to the Panthers, winners of their two contests of the month. They earned their first victory against a ranked opponent on Saturday, downing Gill St. Bernards 10-7, thanks to big days from senior FOGO Daine Kostes (71% faceoff, 12 GB), and junior Brody Nussman (four goals, one assist). Their schedule gets rocky to close out the season with St. Augustine left on their regular season slate, and potential dates with Pingry, Bernards, Ridge, and Gill St. Bernards in an excellent Somerset County Tournament bracket.

16) Moorestown Quakers (10-3, Previously: 19)

The Quakers have soared up the rankings thanks to a huge upset over the previous number seven Manasquan. The 13-3 victory stunned the lacrosse community as Moorestown shutout the number one seed in the Shore Conference Tournament in the second half. Freshman Wes Canton is having a special season in the crease, saving 64.4% of shots and allowing just 4.8 goals per contest. With an anchor like him on defense, the offense have thrived, with the Quakers scoring double-digits in nine of their ten wins, including each of last week’s victories. They’ll host Penn Charter from Pennslyvania and welcome Pingry to town this week.

15) Chatham Cougars (6-5, Previously: 13)

Chris Scarpello’s squad finally snapped a four-game skid with a round-one victory over Mt. Olive in the Morris County Tournament. Prior to that, they faced a gauntlet, facing Montclair, Summit, Westfield, and Delbarton all in a row, losing all but one by just a single goal. The Cougars will look to continue changing their fortunes with the six-seed Jefferson as their only game on the docket this week. Keep an eye on JP and Nick Lagunowich whose brotherly chemistry has electrified the offense this year.

14) Christian Brothers Academy Colts (12-4, Previously: 16)

Wins in seven of their last eight games have the Colts feeling good about themselves heading into the Shore Conference Tournament. Last week was particularly good down on the Daniel Keane Turf, with three wins in six days and an average margin of victory of 6.3 goals. Senior attackman Ryan Martin is having a career season, notching 68 points with 43 of them goals. He’s on milestone watch, as he’s just 23 away from 200 for his career. After a trip to Pennsylvania to take on LaSalle, they’ll have Jackson Memorial in round one of the conference bracket.

13) Rumson-Fair Haven Bulldogs (11-3, Previously: 4)

The Bulldogs may have taken a tumble down our rankings, but are still a scary team in South Jersey. They struggled with a 1-2 week, losing to ranked opponents in Summit and Manasquan before smoking Haddonfield 17-5. They’ve wrapped up their regular season schedule but will have plenty of chances to jet back up the rankings thanks to a stacked Shore Conference Tournament setting up potential matchups with CBA and Manasquan. Expect seniors Andy Croddick, Leo Passalaqua, Alastair Orr as well as sophomore Luke Lydon to kick it up a notch down the stretch.

12) Caldwell Chiefs (13-1, Previously: 11)

Getting hot at the right time is key in any sport, and that’s exactly what John Timan’s squad is doing. The Chiefs won all three of their matchups last week, including a big win against Livingston in the Essex County Tournament. Senior goalie Landon Pini snagged 25 saves in those wins as he closes in on 400 for his career (needing just 15 more!). A rematch against Montclair is on the horizon in the ECT semis, as they try to make it four wins in a row against their intercounty rivals.

11) Manasquan Warriors (10-1, Previously: 7)

With Manasquan and Ridgewood losing, we no longer have an undefeated program in our Top 20. Following a great victory against Rumson-Fair Haven, the Warriors were downed 13-3 in a stunning loss at Moorestown. Though no longer perfect, ‘Squan remain a star-laden team with junior Brandon Kunz (45 points), and seniors Brody Muly (36 points) and Nick Bounassi (97 saves) leading the charge. As the top seed in the Shore Conference Tournament, the Warriors should be favored to reach the finals for the second year in a row.

10) Mountain Lakes Lakers (9-3, Previously: 14)

Tim Flynn rhymes with let’s win, and that’s exactly what his Lakers have done throughout his career and this season. They cracked the top 10 this week thanks to three straight victories against St. Joseph’s Montvale, Rye (NY), and Mendham, with the latter victory coming in the Morris County Tournament. This team just plays the game the right way, dominating possession facilitated by senior FOGO Jordan Hernando (72% faceoffs), and holding leads thanks to excellent defense and the superb goaltending of senior Andrew Adams (117 saves). This is the time of year when the Lakers show you why their program is considered legendary nationwide, and we’ll get to see their postseason prominence on display Thursday against Madison, and potentially later on against Chatham, Delbarton, and Morris Knolls.

9) Bernards Mountaineers (11-1, Previously: 12)

Head coach David Brothers’ team keeps on winning. And when they do, it’s been by a LOT. The Mountaineers’ 177 goals is second only to A.L. Johnson in the NJILL conference in total goals, and their average margin of victory of 11.5 goals is just silly when you think about it. The squad is led by Brothers’ son and Big State Sports Post Game Interview Celebrity David Jr., who’s tops on the team in assists and points with 33 and 66 respectively. Logan Stevens (55), Finn Vaccaro (57), and Charlie Hunnewell (59), all have eclipsed the 55-point mark as well, making Bernards one of the most lethal offenses in the state. And I’d be remiss if seniors, goalie Caden Kirst and FOGO Trevor Sardis didn’t get a shout-out here, as they may very well be the two best players at their respective positions in most circles. They have a date with Pope John this week before starting their Somerset County Tournament bracket run as the number two seed, hoping to reach the final after getting bounced in last year’s semis.

8) Westfield Blue Devils (8-3, Previously: 2)

Following an eight-game winning streak that saw them take down six different ranked opponents, for the first time since game one of the season, the Blue Devils look human. Last week saw Westfield drop two in a row for the first time since May 6-9 of last year when they were taken down by Summit in the Union County Finals, and Pingry. This season they once again lost to Pingry and then to defending Kirst Cup Champion Ridgewood. Coach Boomer Wertheimer puts his team through this gauntlet for a reason though, and if anything, these losses will motivate junior Colin Coyle and Co. to give it their all in the UCT and beyond.

7) St. Augustine Hermits (7-4, Previously: 6)

It can be easy to forget about the Hermits in the regular season with Richland being out of the way from most of the state, and them playing independently of a conference. But we’re here to remind you just how good they are. While they went 1-1 last week, the loss came against Episcopal Academy — the number eight-ranked team in Pennsylvania. Senior Noah Plenn used a pair of four-goal games to reach and then eclipse the 100-goal milestone and notched a career-high eight points in their victory over Cherokee. They don’t have a county or conference tournament but do have two spectacular matchups against Bridgewater-Raritan and Haddonfield to get them set for the state playoffs.

6) Pingry Big Blue (11-1, Previously: 10)

The start of May was a huge week for the Big Blue. To kick things off they beat Westfield 8-5 in the Bristol Bowl, and followed that up with a pair of double-digit throttlings of Immaculata (18-4) and Watchung Hills (15-4). Much like Plenn of St. Augustine, senior Charlie Sherman used back-to-back four-goal efforts to reach and then pass the century mark in goals, and is now just six points away from 150 career points. Pingry will be the number one seed in the Somerset County tournament, an event in which they’re back-to-back defending champs.

5) Delbarton Green Wave (8-6, Previously: 9)

Starting the Top Five is the Green Wave, crashing in with wins over Chatham on the road, and Pequannock at home. They also took a loss, but it was a close affair against Chaminade, the second-ranked team in New York. Senior Willie Doyle had his best three-game stretch of the season with multi-point efforts in each matchup, including a four-pointer against Chaminade. Don’t let the 8-6 record fool you, Matt Kovachik has his team as confident in themselves as ever. They’ll show that they’re better than their win/loss when they continue their Morris County Tournament title defense as the one seed against ninth-seeded West Morris Central on Thursday.

4) Seton Hall Prep Pirates (7-5, Previously: 8)

Even considering the outstanding teams they played, starting 2-5 was rough on the Pirates. But blue-chip programs always seem to find a way to turn things around, and since April 18th, Seton Hall is 5-0 including wins against Top-20 Scotch Plains-Fanwood, Delbarton, Caldwell, and Montclair. The kicker is that the latter two teams are their biggest threats to halt their decade-long streak of Essex County Tournament championship wins, and they handled both by nine goals each. Junior Nolan Sabol’s star continued to rise this week with a career-high five assists against the Mounties.

3) Summit Hilltoppers (10-2, Previously: 5)

Jim Davidson’s program continues to prove why they’re one of the best programs in the nation, and after another excellent week have crept right back into our top three. The Hilltoppers started the week with a fifth-straight win against a Top 20 team, shutting down Rumson-Fair Haven 7-2, blanking the Bulldogs in the first three quarters. They followed that up with an epic 17-6 takedown of Princeton on Senior Night, where senior Daniel “The Human Torch” Flaim tallied five points, and sophomore Kieran Zuluaf scored his first career varsity goal. Summit will look to defend their Union County Tournament title, and have the chance to meet Westfield in the finals for the twelfth time in a row.

2) Ridgewood Maroons (11-1, Previously: 1)

After a five-week streak at the top spot, the Maroons were finally knocked off the peak due to a stunning 12-4 loss to Don Bosco Prep. It’s not so much that they lost, but by how much that shocked the state, as Ridgewood hadn’t scored fewer than eight goals nor allowed more than seven up to that point. The loss didn’t seem to bother Mike Pounds’ boys much though, as they beat Westfield 11-9 the next day, and then took care of business against Northern Highlands in the quarterfinal round of the Bergen County Tournament. In two games against the Highlanders this season, senior Jack Schultz has 10 goals and four assists including four and two in the playoffs. He’s now two goals away from setting a new single-season high as he and his team set their sights on Tenafly in the semifinals and a potential rematch with Bosco in Mahwah on the 11th for the county title game.

1) Don Bosco Prep Ironmen (9-3, Previously: 3)

It feels good at the top, and after last week the Ironmen have an excellent chance to stay there. Everyone knew how good this team was all season, but with Westfield and Ridgewood playing at the level they were playing, Bosco couldn’t get over the hump. Then Thursday happened. Not only did the Ironmen beat the defending Kirst Cup champs, but they handed them their first loss of the season in convincing fashion. After a tight first half that had the powerhouses neck-and-neck at 2-2, sophomore John Devir opened the floodgates with the first of seven third-quarter Bosco goals, and they never looked back. While the offense was clearly huge, senior goalie Colton Carfello deserves some flowers to with a 13-save performance on 17 shots. Like any good team though, the celebration was brief as the Gibbs division champs still have work to. They face Bergen Catholic on Friday in the Bergen County Tournament semifinals and very well could face a vengeful Ridgewood on Saturday in the finals.

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See you next week, and happy county tournament season!