Orthopaedic Institute Boys Lacrosse Player of the Week: Southern’s Aniello Russo
Every week this season, Shore Conference lacrosse fans will have their chance to vote for the Orthopaedic Institute of Central Jersey/Shore Sports Network Boys Lacrosse Player of the Week on our website.
The Week 2 winner as selected by the readers is Southern Regional junior attackman Aniello Russo, who totaled eight goals and three assists in three games for the Rams, who are ranked No. 4 in the Shore Sports Network Top 10.
Russo began the week with two goals and one assist in Southern's dramatic 6-5 overtime victory over Rumson-Fair Haven. Russo beat the first-quarter buzzer to tie the score at one and then scored with 10 seconds left in the second quarter to tie the score 2-2. He set up Nick Fontana for the game-winning goal in overtime by making a pass from the ground after falling while trying to dodge from X.
Southern would suffer its first loss of the season the very next day when Freehold Township scored a 6-5 overtime victory, but Russo led the way for the Rams offense with three goals.
Three days later Southern concluded its week by rallying for a 7-5 win over Brick Memorial after trailing 5-1 at halftime. Russo once again recorded a hat trick while adding two assists.
In seven games this season Russo has 15 goals and seven assists for a team-leading 22 points. He has already surpassed last year's total of 10 goals and is well on his way to breaking his previous career-high in points set last season with 30.
He and the Rams began this week with a 9-4 win over Jackson Memorial and are idle until a road game at Red Bank on Monday.
Russo picked up over 27 percent of the votes cast to win over Shore's Gil Goldsmith and Holmdel's Justin Arredondo, who finished second and third, respectively, in the readers' poll.
Archive
Follow Shore Sports Network on Twitter @ShoreSportsNet and on Instagram. Like Shore Sports Network on Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube channel for all the latest video highlights.