SCLCA BLAX ALL-STAR GAME - MONMOUTH STILL THE STANDARD *Videos Added*

By Bob Badders - Senior Writer

    HOLMDEL -- A late rally by Ocean County made things interesting, certainly more so than most thought the 2008 Shore Conference Lacrosse Coaches Association Boys Lacrosse All-Star Game would be. But in the end, it was Monmouth County once again asserting its dominance.
    Red Bank junior Connor Lawlor scored a game-high three goals while four other players scored two goals each to lead the Monmouth County All-Stars to a 16-13 victory over the Ocean County All-Stars on Saturday at Holmdel High School's Bob Roggy Memorial Field. Red Bank Catholic senior Brendan Callaghan was named the game's most valuable player and also won the fastest shot competition at halftime with blistering shot of 98 miles per hour.
    "It was pretty cool, I had a good time," said Callaghan, who will continue his lacrosse career at Washington College in Chestertown, Md. "This was probably one of the first all-star games I've ever played in so it was a lot of fun."
    Monmouth County sported a roster stacked with many of the best players in the Shore Conference from most of the area's top teams. After an even first quarter, Monmouth outscored Ocean 7-1 in the second quarter to take a 9-3 lead into the half. Ocean didn't go away, however, scoring 10 times in the second half to force Monmouth to score a couple key goals down the stretch to come away with the victory. Ocean County closing the gap in a sport that has been traditionally dominated by Monmouth County shows the growth of the sport in the Shore Conference. The talent is starting to spread out and it seems like only a matter of time before the Shore is a major postseason player, just like it is in many other sports.
    "It's really nice," Lawlor said. "A few years ago these games were blowouts but now it's a two- or three-goal game every year. It's really starting to even out."
    One player who has really been able to see the rapid growth of lacrosse in the area has been Callaghan. The senior middie grew up in Maryland, which is like growing up in Texas if you're a football player or California for a baseball player. He spent his youth years in lacrosse Mecca, where the state championship games routinely draw thousands of fans. He had to adjust when he transferred to Red Bank Catholic for his sophomore year of high school as lacrosse takes a back seat in New Jersey to football, basketball and wrestling. But in just a few years he could see plenty of growth.
    "When I first got here we (RBC) weren't that good," Callaghan said. "There weren't really any excellent teams but this year was a great year for the Shore Conference with a lot of good teams all around."
    "Every year the competition just gets tougher and tougher," added Manasquan attackman Justin Leddy, who scored twice and also assisted on a goal. "I was just glad to be here to be a part of this game."
    On a humid but otherwise fine evening for lacrosse, Christian Brothers Academy senior middie Derek Craig, who was recognized as the SCLCA Monmouth County Player of the Year, gave Monmouth County a 1-0 lead at 3:44 of the first quarter. Ocean County responded with two goals in a span of 40 seconds by Jackson Memorial's Tyler DiStefano and Monsignor Donovan's Chris Galler to take its first and only lead of the game at 2-1. Howell midfielder and face-off specialist Kyle Marlborough scored the first of his two goals at 9:35 to tie the game at two, which is how it would end after the first quarter.
    Red Bank Catholic sophomore Kevin Whitlock came up with a steal near midfield, raced in and fired a shot inside the right post for a 3-2 Monmouth advantage just 1:52 into the second quarter. Ocean would answer once again, this time on a goal by Toms River South's Nick Jernack just over a minute later. However, a goal by Wall senior Kevin Dahms on which he stole a clear, dodged a defender and scored, gave Monmouth a 4-3 lead and started a dominating stretch in which Monmouth closed out the first half with six unanswered goals.
    After Dahms' goal at 5:42, Red Bank Catholic sophomore attackman Pete Guastella took a feed from Lawlor and ripped a shot in for a 5-3 lead. Two consecutive goals on fantastic shots pushed the lead to 7-3. First it was Marlborough, who isolated his defender, dodged right and unleashed a pinpoint shot that scored in the upper left corner of the goal just beneath the crossbar at 6:54. At 7:27, Leddy took a low pass from Guastella and in an underhand motion roofed a shot past the goalie.
    "I didn't hit one of those all season so I was glad to get one there," quipped Leddy.
    Leddy scored again while Monmouth had a man-up advantage, taking a pass from Callaghan on the right side of the cage and sneaking a quick shot past the goalie just inside the post. He then set up Lawlor with 52 seconds left in the first half for a 9-3 lead.
    "I've known a lot of these guys and have been playing with them since the sixth or seventh grade," Leddy said. "So it was really easy to work with them."
    "It took us a while to mold but we started to get going and got into a flow," Lawlor added.
    A six-goal deficit did not deter Ocean County, though, as the squad put together a great third quarter to pull to within three goals. The teams traded tallies early in the second half with DiStefano firing first off a feed from Jaguars teammate Chris Farrar at the one-minute mark. Guastella took a pass from Red Bank junior Corey Lunney and scored at 2:15 before another Jaguar, Matt Riley, beat his defender one-on-one driving down the center and scored. CBA's Sean Nelson then set up Whitlock for his second goal and an 11-5 lead at 4:30.
    Ocean County scored the next three goals due in large part to the work of Toms River South's Matt Jernack in the face-off circle. The team made its possessions count, getting goals by Toms River North's Kyle Kermick, and the Toms River East duo of Gabe Perrone and Nick Ferrante to close to within 11-8. Lawlor hit at 11:09 to push the lead to 12-8 for Monmouth County, but Perrone scored his second of the game with 9.6 seconds remaining in the third quarter to keep his team within striking distance.
    While Ocean County was making its run, Wall goalie T.J. Vilardi came up with two huge saves to keep Monmouth County afloat.
    Ferrante opened the fourth quarter with a goal at 2:12 to trim Monmouth's advantage to just two goals, but Red Bank Catholic sophomore Tucker Hawley responded with crucial strike at 5:06 to make it a three-goal game once again. The final six minutes of the game made for some exciting lacrosse as Nick Jernack scored his second goal to cut the Monmouth lead to 13-11 before Callaghan and CBA senior middie Rob Napp hit in a 31-second span to make it a 15-11 game.
     Galler and Kermick scored two minutes apart to cut it to two again, but Lawlor closed things out with a goal with 46 seconds left to seal Monmouth's 16-13 victory.
    Even though it was an exhibition game, it's hard to say the final score didn't matter, when it clearly did. The players were playing for pride, and when the game got tight in the fourth quarter both teams were competing like much more was on the line than bragging rights. Saturday was about gathering the best lacrosse players on one field and letting them give it their all for 48 minutes, but it was also about much more. Growing the sport is at the center of coaches' minds as they try to show fans why this exciting, hard-hitting sport is the fastest growing sport in the nation.
    Before the high school game there were youth all-star games and at halftime there was also a youth fastest shot competition, which was won by Toms River's Kyle Jernack with a shot of 68 mph. It's events like this game organizers and coaches hope will keep the sport on its upward climb into the front of local sports fans' minds.
    "We saw today there was a youth team out there so that's a big positive to get the young kids out there playing," Lawlor said. "If we keep going like this, in a few years everybody is going to be very good."
   


Box Score

Monmouth County 16, Ocean County 13

Monmouth 2 7 3 4 - 16
Ocean       2 1 6 4 - 13

Goals: (M) Connor Lawlor (Red Bank) 3, Kyle Marlboro (Howell) 2, Kevin Whitlock (RBC) 2, Pete Guastella (RBC) 2, Justin Leddy (Manasquan) 2, Kevin Dahms (Wall), Derek Craig (CBA), Tucker Hawley (RBC), Brendan Callaghan (RBC), Rob Napp (CBA); (O) Tyler DiStefano (Jackson Memorial) 2, Chris Galler (Msgr. Donovan) 2, Nick Jernack (Toms River South) 2, Kyle Kermick (Toms River North) 2, Gabe Perrone (Toms River East) 2, Nick Ferrante (Toms River East) 2, Matt Riley (Jackson Memorial).
Assists (M) Connor Lawlor (Red Bank), Pete Guastella (RBC), Brendan Callaghan (RBC), Justin Leddy (Manasquan), Corey Lunney (Red Bank), Sean Nelson (CBA); (O) Matt Riley (Jackson Memorial), Ryan O'Donnell (Toms River North), Chris Farrar (Jackson Memorial), Chris Galler (Msgr. Donovan), Kyle Kermick (Toms River North).



E-mail: badders@digitalsports.com