Jersey Mike’s Week 5 Shore Conference Boys Lacrosse Team of the Week: Red Bank Regional
Every week this spring, Jersey Mike’s and Shore Sports Network will be teaming up to select a Lacrosse Team of the Week based on its performance over the past week.
The Jersey Mike's Team of the Week for Week 5 is Red Bank Regional, which avenged a close loss to win an overtime thriller and advance in the Shore Conference Tournament. Shore Sports Network stopped by practice on Tuesday to present the Bucs and head coach Andy Eastwood with a Team of the Week certificate and a $250 Jersey Mike's gift card.
Week 5 included games played on Monday, May 2 through Sunday, May 8.
Red Bank entered Week 5 ranked No. 9 in the Shore Sports Network Top 10 and was coming off a 9-8 loss to Holmdel on April 28. The Bucs proceeded to win all four games over the next six days, beginning with an 18-9 victory over St. John Vianney and continuing with a 14-13 triumph over Princeton and then an 18-3 win over Neptune. However, the biggest game was on Saturday when the Bucs got a rematch with Holmdel, this time in the first round of the Shore Conference Tournament.
Red Bank started strong and with a three-goal first quarter and led 5-1 at halftime. The Bucs seemed in control with a four-goal lead in the fourth quarter, but Holmdel mounted a late rally with four goals in the final four minutes to send the game to overtime. With the clock ticking toward triple zeros in the first overtime period, senior midfielder Matt Lynch took a pass from junior attackman Trey Lynch and fired a shot that found the back of the net just before the buzzer sounded to give Red Bank a dramatic 8-7 victory.
The win put the Bucs into the SCT quarterfinals but that also meant a game with top-seeded Rumson-Fair Haven. The juggernaut Bulldogs eliminated RBR from the tournament with a 15-2 win on Wednesday.
Red Bank is currently 9-6 under first-year head coach Andy Eastwood, who previously led Rumson to a pair of SCT titles and coached the Bulldogs to the 2015 NJSIAA Group 1 title. Among their top wins this season are victories over Red Bank Catholic and Middletown South along with the SCT win over Holmdel.
Junior Andrew Pape is the team's leading scorere with 34 goals and 15 assists for 49 points. Junior midfielder Henry Spencer, an Air Force recruit, has 32 goals and 16 assists for 48 points and junior attackman Ryder Villani, a Delaware recruit, has posted 34 goals and 11 assists for 45 points. Those three are the Bucs' top offensive threats with the unrelated duo of Matt Lynch (17g, 12a) and Trey Lynch (8g, 14a) also over 20 points on the season. Sophomre Matt Kelly has chipped in with 14 points. The Bucs' defensive leader is senior Sean Masonius, who spearheads the close defense unit in front of junior goalie Gavin Lisko, who has 136 saves and a 60% save percentage this season.
Red Bank has one more regular-season game left when it will host Middletown North on Saturday, which is also the cutoff for state tournament qualifying. The Bucs are aligned in the North Group 3 section and are currently 11th. The top 16 teams in each section qualify.
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