Windmill Team of the Week: Freehold Township

Every week this spring, Windmill Restaurants and Shore Sports Network will be selecting a Boys Lacrosse Team of the Week based on its performance over the past week.

The Windmill Team of the Week for Week 2 is Freehold Township, which went 2-0 with a huge nondivisional win that enabled the Patriots to remain undefeated and ascend to the No. 3 ranking in the latest Shore Sports Network Top 10. Windmill and Shore Sports Network were at practice on Tuesday to present the Patriots and head coach Ryan Eichner with a special Team of the Week certificate and a $300 Windmill gift card.

In the first and most significant victory of the week, Freehold Township rallied to defeat Southern, 6-5 in overtime, in a battle of teams which were ranked No. 3 (Southern) and No. 6 in the SSN Top 10 at the time. Trailing late in the fourth quarter, the Patriots tied the game at five on a goal by junior midfielder Matt Kondrup with 4.5 seconds remaining. In overtime, junior goalie Aidan Purcell made a huge save, one of his 14 on the afternoon, which led to Ryan O'Donoghue setting up Brendan Doel for the game-winning goal.

Southern had defeated Rumson-Fair Haven the day before by the same 6-5 margin in overtime.

Three days later the Patriots avoided an upset bid from district rival Colts Neck by erasing a halftime deficit to win, 9-7. Senior attackman Chris Novella scored four goals and added one assist and Doel added two goals and two assists while Purcell made 14 saves.

Through six games, Novella leads Freehold Township with 16 goals and 12 assists for 28 points. Doel has 11 goals and 12 assists and senior attackman Matt Graybush has 11 goals. Purcell has been outstanding in goal with a .782 save percentage and 72 saves.

Freehold Township began this week with an 18-1 victory over Marlboro. The Patriots now turn their attention to a massive matchup with No. 2 Christian Brothers Academy on Saturday. The Colts are also ranked No. 4 in the state by NJ.com.

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Week 1

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