Sophomore Pat Grimley helping Ocean City lacrosse travel a tough road

OCEAN CITY — Pat Grimley and the Ocean City boys lacrosse program are following similar paths.

Last spring, the Ocean City sophomore was a key player as the team played in its first state championship game. With under a minute to play, the game was tied in as close to a Cinderella story as could have been possible. A year later, Grimley and Ocean City are no longer a secret.

“We lost some players from last year,” Grimley said. “We've been we've been searching for people to step up. Right now, we really need some leaders on the team. On the offensive side, especially, we need to, we need to learn to produce.”

Go ahead and count Grimley among those leaders. And yes, any offense could use some more production. Through 11 games so far this season, Ocean City has a deceptive 5-6 record. By design.

“We definitely have a rough road, but it will make our playoff run much easier,” Grimley said. “Hopefully those games will make us a bit more experienced. The playoffs will be much easier than our regular season schedule.

"This is the reason why we're going to be successful. You have to challenge yourself. We're not going to improve playing teams that are not as good as us. We just need to learn to sharpen ourselves against these teams.”

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The Ocean City roster is dotted with the best teams in the state, North Jersey, the Shore Conference and South Jersey to go along with its Cape-Atlantic slate. Last year’s thrilling run to a state final was eye-opening. Coach Joe LaTorre is determined to make a return trip feel more familiar.

“If you look at the top 15 in the state, we have played or we're going to playing nine out of those 15 teams,” LaTorre said. “The beauty of the schedule is every game is going to be like a test. To be honest, I'd rather be 5-6 right now than 10-1 because we don't learn anything about ourselves playing teams that don’t challenge us. I know it's a very tough lesson to learn right now.”

Grimley scored 54 goals as a freshman. Midway through his sophomore season, he is at 27 goals. It is different being the hotshot freshman making his first run than it is being the known quantity every defense prepares for. Grimley is making the adjustment.

“I definitely have a bigger role in the offense than I did last year,” Griley said. “I just have to step up and fill that role. I definitely put in the work in the offseason. I am a three-sport athlete. I played as much as I could here to prepare for this.”

Grimley has new tools in his on-field chest. He’s also added a new layers of leadership.

“He's a kid that you love to have out on the field,” LaTorre said. “He directs and helps kids understand where they need to be. He explains small, IQ things that maybe these guys younger guys might not know. He shows them things they are not seeing unless someone else is telling them. Sometimes it's great to have it from his perspective or from another kid rather than from a coach.”

Ocean City and Grimley are taking the hard road to success. The bumps and detours along the way are designed to clear a smooth path ahead.

“I hope that we can be a top playoff team,” Grimley said. “We want to make the Tournament of Champions and win the Group 3 title. That's something we're looking forward to.”

Tom Rimback, sports reporter

Tom Rimback grew up reading the Burlington County Times and Courier Post sports sections and began writing for the BCT in 1996. He has covered everything from Super Bowls and Final Fours to Tri-County Swimming but he’s happiest on a sideline interviewing South Jersey scholastic athletes for the Burlington County Times, the Courier Post and The Daily Journal. Follow him on twitter @RimbackBCT. Email him with story ideas at trimback@thebct.com and, most importantly, support local journalism with a subscription.

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This article originally appeared on Vineland Daily Journal: Ocean City sophomore Pat Grimley leading lacrosse team down tough road