Balanced offense, face-off dominance send Wall past Red Bank in division opener

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LITTLE SILVER -- Over the past three seasons, Wall's boys lacrosse team has graduated a trio of electric offensive players who are among the top scorers in Shore Conference history. Replacing that level of production is easier said than done, but in their season-opening game on Thursday, the Crimson Knights showcased a deep and balanced offense that continued to light up the scoreboard.

Senior attackman/midfielder Shea Brennan tallied three goals and four assists, senior attackman Jack Meyer sank four goals with one assist, and junior face-off ace Michael Hoarle won 25 of 26 at the X and added a goal to lead Wall to a 17-7 Shore Conference American Division victory over host Red Bank Regional.

Red Bank briefly tied the score, 3-3, when standout senior Andrew Pape scored with 10 seconds remaining in the first quarter, but Hoarle won the ensuing face-off, raced into the box, and scored with four seconds left to give Wall the lead for good. Sophomore attackman Wyatt Capro delivered three goals and three assists, junior attackman Jackson Lemongelli notched a hat trick, senior midfielder Will Madden had two goals and two assists, and sophomore midfielder Patrick Freud scored once. Senior goalie Lucas Seelinger made nine saves to earn the win.

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With stars Logan Peters (249 career points), Matt Dollive (211), and all-time leading scorer John McCurry (330) having graduated in consecutive seasons, Wall doesn't have a returning 100-point scorer on the roster that will command the attention of opposing defenses. Thursday's victory showed why the Knights can still field a potent offense.

"We have the luxury this year of all six guys being capable of putting the ball in the back of the net," said Wall head coach Victor Rivera. "They all trust each other to do the right thing; work hard for that shorty matchup, make the right pass when it's needed, and be aggressive when you have the chance. They've been gelling really well all preseason and we hope that carries on."

"It's different than last year when we had John and Connor (Moore) as our biggest goal scorers," Brennan said. "This year it's all of us. Everybody is a threat on the field."

After a back-and-forth first quarter that ended with Hoarle's late go-ahead goal, Wall outscored Red Bank 5-1 in the second quarter to open a 9-4 halftime lead. Freud scored to put the Knights up 5-3 at 9:30 of the second quarter, Meyer scored off a pass from Brennan just over a minute later, and Meyer scored unassisted for a 7-3 lead with 5:26 left in the half. Andrew Pape got one back for Red Bank at 3:16 but Wall added two more goals in the final 90 seconds as Capro scored off a feed from Brennan and then set up Madden for a goal with 30 seconds left.

Hoarle was perfect at the X in the first half, going 14-for-14 to give Wall a major possession advantage. The Bryant University commit, who was a Second Team All-Shore selection last year, took a beating against a physical Red Bank face-off unit but kept winning possession after possession to keep the Crimson Knights rolling.

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"He was getting bumped around all game long and he fought through every hit and every check," Brennan said. "He pushes transition and he goes back and plays defense, too. With him at the X we know he's going to work all game and win a lot of them."

The third quarter was more of the same with Brennan starting the scoring at 9:30 for a 10-4 lead. There was no scoring for the next six and a half minutes until the teams combined for five goals in the final 3:05 of the quarter. Lemongelli scored in a transition off a pass from Nick Wonsala to make it 11-4 but senior Finn Tierney answered for the Bucs to cut his team's deficit to five goals. Wall pushed its lead to 13-5 with two quick goals before Pape found twine with one second left in the quarter for his third goal.

Brennan, Lemongelli, and Madden added goals in the fourth quarter while junior Lucas Fels scored for Red Bank to provide the final scoring margin.

Wall's win over Red Bank was the first of several tests it will face this season coming off a historic 2023 campaign in which the program won its first NJSIAA sectional title and reached its first Shore Conference Tournament championship game. The realignment of the Shore Conference's boys lacrosse divisions has the top teams - Wall, Rumson-Fair Haven, Manasquan, CBA, Holmdel, Southern, Shore, and Red Bank forming a powerful American Division. The Knights also have non-conference games against Scotch Plains-Fanwood, Westfield, St. Joseph (Metuchen), St. Augustine, Eastern, Ridge, and Shawnee.

We know we can't get too high right now because we have a lot of great competition coming up," Rivera said. "We're pumped for it. We can't take our foot off the gas and that's the best thing about this alignment. It's exciting."

"Everybody is so excited to get back to the sectional championship, play Squan, play CBA, play all these teams on this tough schedule," Brennan said. "I think the team feels we deserve this. We're ready for the test. There could be some ups and downs during the season but we know what we're capable of."

Box Score

Wall 17, Red Bank 7

GOAL - W: Jack Meyer 4, Shea Brennan 3, Jackson Lemongelli 3, Wyatt Capro 3, Will Madden 2, Michael Hoarle, Patrick Freud; RBR: Andrew Pape 3, Gabe Pape, Jack Tavares, Finn Tierney, Lucas Fels.

ASSISTS - W: Shea Brennan 4, Wyatt Capro 3, Will Madden 2, Jack Meyer, Nick Wonsala; RBR: Justin Valentino 2, Andrew Pape, Finn Tierney, Matt Kelly.

FACE-OFFS - W: Michael Hoarle 25-for-26

SAVES - W: Lucas Seelinger 9; RBR: Kyle Borenius 11.

SHOTS: Wall, 32-21.