Holy Spirit takes down Blue Devils 16-9

By Walter J. O’Neill, Jr.

Senior Conley Smolokoff (13) had five of the Shore Regional goals against Holy Spirit.

Thursday afternoon the Spartans of Holy Spirit traveled from Absecon to West Long Branch to face the lady Blue Devils in a non-conference lacrosse game. It started off well for the host, as the Devils took a 4-3 lead after the first quarter.

However, Holy Spirit came back two dominating quarters. They outscored Shore Regional 5-1 in the second and took an 8-5 lead into the break. Starting the second half, the Spartans shutout the Blue Devils 5-0 in the third quarter. The final quarter had Shore taking a 4-3 edge, but it was not enough as Holy Spirit won 16-9 and improved to 7-1 on the season.

In the Cape-Atlantic Conference, Holy Spirit plays in the American division. Currently they are in second place as Ocean City is undefeated at 5-0, while the Spartans are 5-1 in divisional games. They are followed by Mainland, Lower Cape May, Our Lady of Mercy and Middle Township in last. So far this year, Holy Spirit has outscored their opponents 113-54. Shore Regional slips to 7-4 overall with the loss.

Leading the Blue Devils in goals was Conley Smolokoff with five. Gabby O’Brien finished with three goals and three assists. Marielle Montenegro had one goal for the Devils. In the goal for the Blue Devils was Sofia Merten, who had eight saves.

One of the key factors in Lacrosse is controlling the draw and winning ground balls. The Spartans had a 24-4 control in the draw and a 12-8 advantage in ground balls.

Shore Regional competes in the American division of the Shore Conference. Currently they are 3-2 in divisional action. Two teams are ahead of Shore in the standings and both are undefeated; Manasquan and Trinity Hall. Following the Blue Devils is Rumson-Fair Haven, Southern Regional, Middletown South and Red Bank Regional. Shore has outscored their opponents 114-91 so far.

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