The urge was fairly strong to call Brady Scioletti’s string of three goals in a roughly three-minute span of the first quarter, or his five for the game, something silly like Brady’s bunch.
But that probably would come off as being a little too cute, and there was nothing remotely cute about any of the five shots that flew off the Duke commit’s stick as if propelled by dynamite.
Complete Box Score »
Scioletti said his club fully expected Mountain Lakes to dispatch a zone defense initially - which it did - and the Ironmen discussed good spacing and rapid ball movement as the keys to combatting it.
He gave no indication that the final stop in that succession of passes was supposed to be him, waiting patiently along the left wing for a chance to unleash his big left-handed hammer.
“We knew they were going to play zone to start the game off and we game-planned for it. We were ready," Scioletti said. “When we moved the ball quickly and got everyone involved, it went well.”
So well that No. 2 Don Bosco generated eight goals on just nine shots in the first quarter on its way to a 16-6 victory over No. 16 Mountain Lakes in an NJILL Gibbs Division battle Tuesday at Wilkins Field in Mountain Lakes.
Brady Kushner scored three goals and assisted on two, fellow junior Johnny Devir struck for three goals and one assist, and Jason Koo and James Greenhut each had one goal and two assists to help the Ironmen (6-3) stretch their winning streak against New Jersey competition to 18 games.
That torrid offense was almost perfect in that opening quarter, though Scioletti went one better by drilling all three of his shots that period, and then sinking a fourth straight for a 9-2 lead with 5:53 to go in the second quarter. He hit the five goals on just six attempts..
“I have faith in my teammates that the ball is going to come to me, and when it comes to me, I just let it fly and I know it’s going to go in,” he said.
Scioletti’s fifth goal opened a 12-2 lead 16 seconds into the third quarter, and Koo and Devir followed over the next 6:39 to forge a 14-2 lead and initiate a running clock for the remainder of the game with that 12-goal separation.
Junior Holden Gillespie finished with two goals and one assist and freshman Owen Higgins had one for a Mountain Lakes team that was missing two defensive starters due to injury. Don Bosco was without Quinnipiac-bound defenseman David Corb due to illness.
“We have the best defense in New Jersey. A lot of great players who play well together. They communicate well and one-on-one, there’s not really many kids that can beat them,“ Scioletti said. ”So even if we lose one guy, the next guy’s right back up, and we’re ready to go."
“Ready to go” could have been scripted across the back of the Ironmen’s shooting shirts on this day, thanks to the outstanding faceoff work of Delaware commit Scott Conte.
He won 12-of-16 at the X to surpass 700 won faceoffs for his career, and he reached that milestone in style. Greenhut collected the ground ball off Conte’s rake and then fed his teammate racing through the box to score for a 10-2 lead late in the second quarter.
“He’s the best facelift guy in New Jersey, and when we have him on the field, we know we’re going to get the ball,“ Scioletti said. ”We know we’re going to get a lot of opportunities on offense and we’ve just got to cash in for him because we know how hard he works."
Hard work from some very talented lacrosse players has certainly been a Don Bosco trademark these past two seasons under second-year head coach Matt Lane.
His club was 17-3 last season and won both the Bergen County Tournament and Non-Public A state title to finish No. 1 in the Top 20. All six losses in the last two seasons have come against out-of-state powerhouses that help sharpen the Ironmen for the local competition.
“Coach Lane did a great job of giving us a very tough schedule. We played a lot of great teams,” Scioletti said.
“Teams that we knew were going to be a challenge and that excited us. It just gets us better as a team. It makes us closer and when we play teams back in New Jersey, we’re ready and we know we can beat them,” he said.
Mike Kinney can be reached at [email protected].
Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @MikeKinneyHS.The N.J. High School Sports newsletter is now appearing in mailboxes 5 days a week. Sign up now!
Follow us on social: Facebook ’Instagram ’ X (formerly Twitter