Stefanelli hits 100 career points, helps Manalapan top Howell in key Colonial Division matchup
MANALAPAN -- The Manalapan boys lacrosse program is competing in just its fourth season at the varsity level, but during those formative years the Braves have steadily become a team that is ready to contend for a championship.
Senior midfielder Marc Stefanelli scored five goals and added two assists to reach 100 career points while the defense and sophomore goalie Connor Doel yielded only one goal over the final three quarters and pitched a second-half shutout to lead the first-place Braves to a 12-3 Shore Conference Colonial Division victory over district rival Howell on Wednesday afternoon at the Manalapan Rec Center.
Senior midfielder Anthony Macchio scored four goals with one assist and junior midfielder Matt Avivi tallied three goals and one assist to pace a Manalapan offense that outscored Howell 8-1 in the middle quarters to break open a game that was tied 2-2 after the first 12 minutes.
The victory pushed the Braves' season record to 4-1, including a 3-0 record within the division that has them tied atop the standings with Toms River East.
Stefanelli scored the game's opening goal to get to 99 career points before reaching the century mark by setting up Macchio for a goal and a 6-3 Manalapan lead late in the first half. He joins Macchio in the 100-point club after Macchio became the first player in program history with 100 points last week.
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"It's great. I love working with these guys and it's a reflection of them, they were setting me up all game," Stefanelli said.
"You don't get better character players than Marc Stefanelli and Anthony Macchio," said Manalapan head coach Nick Filippone. "They've worked hard for four years and really earned those achievements. I'm so proud of those guys."
Howell tied the score 1-1 at 9:06 of the first quarter on a goal by senior Jon Peal Pepe, and on the goal a Manalapan player was flagged for a two-minute, non-releasable penalty. The ensuing extra-man opportunity saw sophomore midfielder Cole Reinsdorf give the Rebels a 2-1 lead, but Manalapan was able to kill off the remainder of the penalty to keep its deficit at one. Avivi scored the game-tying goal later in the quarter, and from there the Braves methodically grew their advantage.
Macchio deposited two straight goals to begin the second quarter before Nick Turturro scored off an assist from junior attackman Jayden Devino to trim Manalapan's lead to 4-3. Macchio scored twice to close the quarter and give the Braves a 6-3 halftime lead.
Manalapan continued to control possession and broke the game open with a four-goal third quarter. Stefanelli and Avivi alternated goals for a 10-3 lead heading into the fourth quarter where Stefanelli scored his third and fourth goals of the game to provide the final scoring margin.
What sparked the nine-goal victory was the play of the defense and the face-off unit and junior FOGO Jake Piedrahita. Senior defenseman Jake Horowitz, Aidan Wilmot, and Justin Miller along with junior Dennis Gabinelli and freshman Nick Palmieri combined to help limit Howell to just two shots combined in the second and third quarters.
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"We had a better feel for finding the right matchups and our defense started to play more aggressivity on ball," Filippone said. "Our defense is really starting to learn how to play as a team but also play great individual defense and really press on guys and force them to make errors. Connor Doel played awesome, shutout in the second half, so it was fun to watch them play."
Manalapan's first season at the varsity level was 2021 when Stefanelli, Macchio, Horowitz, Wilmot, Miller, attackmen Christian Zdziarski and Michael Bonner, midfielders Dylan Friedman, Joe Lurie, and Andrew Williams, and goalie Antonio Santana hit the field as promising freshmen. The Braves went 7-8 with a few notable victories and then went 7-9 in 2022. They broke through last season with a 9-8 record that included a dramatic overtime victory over Rancocas Valley for the program's first state playoff win. This season with those players now senior standouts and team leaders, they are 4-1 and tied for first place in an ultra-competitive Colonial Division.
"I think we've been looking forward to this year for a couple years now," Filippone said. "We knew that we had a special group even when they were younger and that their senior year was going to be that year where we can make a run and do some fun things. We're all excited and knock-on-wood, we're healthy. We're playing confidently and they're a really close group."
The Shore Conference realigned its boys lacrosse divisions during the offseason, creating a strength-based structure from the top-flight American Division down to the Freedom Division. The result has been plenty of parity and given teams like Manalapan a realistic chance at competing for a division title. In previous years, that was not the case. Christian Brothers Academy owned Class A North. Southern Regional won 10 straight Class A South division titles with a 70-game division winning streak. Rumson-Fair Haven dominated Class B North and Manasquan and Wall controlled Class B South. It was unlikely that would have changed this season or in the near future.
This year's Colonial Division features Manalapan, Howell, and Toms River East along with Red Bank Catholic, Jackson Memorial, Middletown South, Barnegat, and Point Boro. The Braves and Raiders are tied for the division lead with RBC and Middletown South lurking one game back should either of the leaders falter.
"It's really exciting for us and is for a lot of programs in the Shore where they have something to play for every single game," Filippone said. "Every single game is competitive. You can win every game and you can lose every game. It's great for the sport and for the kids to be able to feel that way from the top of the Shore to the bottom."
"We love it and it fired us up," Stefanelli said of the new divisions. "We always had CBA (in Class A North) and that's difficult, especially for a young program. Now, all the teams are even and we know we have a chance to win this division. And that's our mentality, we want to win it."
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