Brett Carroll
Staff Writer
The championship of the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament will be the driving force this spring for the girls’ lacrosse team at North Brunswick Township High School.
North Brunswick was denied in its bid to successfully defend the GMC tournament title last spring when the Raiders were knocked out in the semifinals, 10-7, by Monroe Township High School.
North Brunswick had defeated Monroe, 21-12, in the GMC championship game in 2016.
The Raiders finished the 2017 spring with a 15-5 record and they were eliminated in the quarterfinals of the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 state sectional tournament by Hunterdon Central Regional High School, 19-4.
“We unfortunately lost to Monroe in the semifinals of the GMC last year, ” North Brunswick coach Danielle Porzio said. “We didn’t have our best game, and they outplayed us, which was very disappointing. I fully expect us to come out this year and try to take back the GMC.”
Porzio believes that the North Brunswick defense will be the strength this season.
“I expect a lot from them,” Porzio said. “Especially on defense because we’re returning a lot of our starting defenders and our goalie. So I’m expecting low scores for the other team. We have a strong midfield, and our center is returning so I expect to get a lot of ball control and posses the ball.”
The coach understands the importance of defense.
“That’s what I’m hoping for,” Porzio said. “Defense wins championships. So we focus a lot on that because if we can shut the other teams down, we have enough goal scorers to win. I’m not worried about that side of it.”
Spearheading the defense will be senior goalie Natalie Chapman while the offense will be led by senior midfielder Cassie Oake.
Oake will try to ignite an offense that will be without two standouts from last year’s club. Victoria Tucci now plays for Wagner College in New York and Rhica Austin is a member of the team at Cedar Crest College in Pennsylvania. Tucci was North Brunswick’s leading scorer last year.
“Cassie had a huge year last year. She was our second leading scorer behind Victoria,” Porzio said. ” She plays all year round. She’s been a big leader vocally and physically, so I expect another big year from her.”
Porzio also pointed out how valuable Chapman will be this pring.
“Natalie will be big for us, too. Two years ago, she was the defensive player of the year, and last year, she made first team all-county. So, we’re hoping between Cassie scoring goals and playing good defense, and Natalie stopping shots from going in, they will be two of our key players.”
Other players who are expected to contribute for the Raiders areTalysa Jimenez on defense and Hayley Greenberg at midfield.
Oake shared Porzio’s belief that the GMC title will be North Brunswick’s to go after this year.
“We definitely want the win the GMC title back,” Oake said. “We didn’t get to make it to the final last year, so we want to come out this year and remind teams that we’re still a powerhouse team in the GMC. We have so much talent this year, and we’re very versatile. So we want to take it one game at a time and just win.”
The Raiders will begin their season on April 2 when they visit West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North at 11 a.m.
