Preview: Wolfpack Lacrosse Hopes New Faces Bring Success

Defense wins games.

You hear it all the time from coaches in every sport, on every level. Wolfpack veteran coach Rob Goodwin is concerned about his defense this season after losing five of seven starters, including his goalie, to graduation last year.

“It’s our biggest work in progress,” said Goodwin.

The Wolfpack posted a respectable 12-7 record in 2010, making it to the quarter finals of both the county and the state tournaments before losing to Madison in the counties and in the states to eventual Group 2 champs Ridge, 8-5.

When Goodwin was asked who on his team he thought would step it up this season, he named his defense. Starting in goal will be junior Nick McKaba. He has some varsity play time under his belt but according to Goodwin, McKaba is as good as they get at goalie.

Surrounding Mckaba on defense will be senior captain Ryan Millard, a second-year starter who was selected to second-team all-conference last season.

Junior Chris Carfaro and Senior Trevor Lamperti will both get starting positions alongside Millard on defense. Both had some varsity playing time last year.

At midfield Goodwin is looking to Joe Debiasse, a junior with good skills and plenty of quickness, to anchor the middies. He is joined by seniors Conor Boyland and Dennis Jordan who both have experience and good knowledge of the game. Moving up to the first line will be junior Jason Mackewicz and sophomore Kevin Reidinger, who played a lot as a freshman.

On offense Goodwin is looking to Shawn Barnes, a junior, to increase his scoring output over last year. He was the second leading scorer for the team in 2010. Missing from the starting line-up on opening day will be senior captain Mark Charles who is sidelined with the end stages of mononucleosis. Charles thinks he is still three weeks away from playing.

Along with all the defensive players who graduated last year is Sam Morrissey, the team’s leading scorer. According to Goodwin, Morrissey finished his high school career in the top 5 of all-time scorers at West Morris Central. He is playing lacrosse at Wagner College.

Defensively the Wolfpack lost goalie Tom Malley, a two-year starter at the position, Scott Isenburg, a first-team all-conference selection, Andrew Flath and Matt Domaratzky. Isenburg is playing lacrosse at Bucknell University and Domaratzky is playing club lacrosse at Virginia Tech.

“We play in one of the two toughest conferences in the state (The Fitch Conference) and this year Delbarton was moved into the conference. We are experienced at midfield, we have pretty good experience on attack but what we must improve upon the most is our defense,” said Goodwin.

“We have high expectations for this season. We’ve had our share of struggles but if we keep working hard we’ll have a successful season,” said Millard. “Last year we fell short of our expectations. I think that if we keep our balance in the offense and the defense stays focused and intense then we will match or do better than last year.”

“I think we’ll do just as well or better than last year,” said Charles. “It all starts here in practice. These guys are the hardest working guys around. They give 110 percent every time they step on the field. We’re like a family, we always stick together.”

“Our returning cast worked hard in the off season putting in the time and effort to improve their game. We shouldn’t lose anything over last year,” said McKaba.