Boys Lacrosse: Monroe captures fourth straight GMCT title

OLD BRIDGE — It was a matchup four-and-a-half weeks in the making.

Back on April 19, St. Joseph withstood a furious last-minute comeback from Monroe to defeat the Hawks 9-8 in what would wind up being a precursor to Thursday night’s Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament championship game.

Only this time there was no furious comeback, and almost no doubt of who would wind up on top in the end. From the opening minute to the last, Monroe was the aggressor, controlling every aspect of the game and quickly answering any time St. Joseph looked like they might rip away the momentum.

For the fourth year counting, Monroe (10-6) has conquered the rest of the GMC and are conference tournament champions, defeating St. Joseph 7-5 on Thursday night.

No matter the score, Monroe proved hat it is the team to beat in the GMC over the last five seasons, taking that torch from St. Joseph (9-8).

“We’ve played so well over this postseason stretch compared to where we were a few weeks ago,” Monroe coach Joe Yannone said. “I knew we had talent on this team and I got so excited over that last minute because it finally all came together. It came together Tuesday against East Brunswick and it came together tonight. These last two games, this is the team that I envisioned at the start of the year.”

In the off-season it lost players who transferred to other schools or just flat out quit the sport altogether. A tiny shred of doubt was then cast over Monroe to see if they could stay on top after graduating 16 players from 2021 plus the players who transferred or quit.

It’s now clear that no matter how many losses or early season stumbles, Monroe is a school that makes champions.

“This feeling never gets old,” Yannone said. “I tell these guys all the time that it’s worth all the effort that you put in in practice and in the off-season. I told them that if you stay, you’ll be a champion. We had some guys leave, quit, but these guys stuck with it through the thick and thin. I tell them all the time: Monroe lacrosse is about winning championships.”

What it means

For the fifth time ever, Monroe has won the GMCT. After a shaky end of April in which the Falcons lost to Shawnee 16-3 and Hopewell Valley 19-2, they’ve won five straight games ahead of the state tournament.

Key plays

Monroe opened the game on the offensive, winning the first face off and immediately parking its offense in the St. Joseph defensive end for the first three minutes.

They didn’t take many shots during that time, as Christian Updale mainly spent time playing catch with his teammates and cycling to get a read on the defense and trying to open up the passing and driving lanes.

One of those lanes opened up at 7:14 as Updale cycled the ball quickly before finding Chris Chaves, who had an easy shot right in front of the goal to put Monroe up 1-0. A Collin Dominguez man-up goal at 3:10 put Monroe up 2-0 at the end of the first quarter.

But a few early unforced turnovers on errant passes from the Falcons led to scoring chances for St. Joseph. Spencer Angeles converted on one of those opportunities at 9:16 for the Falcons' first goal.

After a little turnover fest near midfield with just under seven minutes to go in the second quarter, Updale found himself on the left hash with an open shooting lane to score and get the lead back to two, 3-1. Dominguez scored again a few minutes later on a rebound and Monroe would lead 4-1 at the halftime break.

Dominguez completed the hat trick with 7:02 left in the third quarter off another Updale assist, who got the defenders to ball watch as Dominguez penetrated and dove into the middle of the defense. Michael Rowinski would score St. Joseph’s second goal just over four minutes later and Monroe led 5-2 after three quarters.

The Falcons would twice cut the lead to two in the fourth quarter at 5-3, 6-4, but both times the Hawks had answers. Angeles scored with 1:44 to get the deficit to 7-5, but it was too little too late for the Falcons who were playing catch-up all night long.

By the numbers

For Monroe, Updale had three points (two goals, one assist) and Dominguez had a hat trick. Chavez scored two goals, and Anthony Cioffi made 14 saves in goal.

Angeles and Rowinski each had two goals for St. Joseph’s, and Georgio Varcarolis netted a goal as well. Robby Kenyon made seven saves in the loss.

Unsung heroes

For a unit that struggled mightily in the early parts of the season, Monroe’s defense was incredibly steady and held strong all night, highlighted by the play of Cioffi.

There were moments when St. Joseph’s could’ve scored several goals in a short amount of time but Cioffi always came up with the big save, including a kick save with under two minutes left that would’ve cut the lead to just one.

The defense around Cioffi also did a great job of not letting shots come from in front and kept everything outside, which allowed the senior goalie time to react to make the saves.

They said it

“Those two goals [Christian] scored were huge,” Cioffi said. “He’s a great player and he knows how he needs to play for us to win. He knows how to get it done. He always comes up big when we need him.”

“I don’t know why [winning the GMC] feels better this year but a lot of people doubted us,” Updale said. “It feels great to be out here, losing 16 seniors and still being able to get it done.”

Updale on Cioffi and the defense: “Lights out performance. It feels so good to have the whole defense come together. It was a long beginning to the season. We knew to keep our heads up and keep moving forward, don’t look back. We’ve got the best defensive coach in the state in Coach [Ross] Schultz getting it done. Coach [Joe Garavente] too man, drawing up these plays and concepts on offense. He blows my mind every day.”

What’s next

St. Joseph has Archbishop Stepinac (NY) on Saturday.

With its regular season wrapped up, Monroe will await seeding for the state tournament.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Boys Lacrosse: Monroe captures fourth straight GMCT title