Sophomores and Juniors Lead Spartans in Coaches Cup Win

By Walter J. O’Neill, Jr.

Ocean Township junior midfielder Emma Bonforte (7) scored five goals and had 1 assist in the 15-5 win over Marlboro.

May 13, several underclass women at Ocean Township High School led the girls’ varsity lacrosse team to a 15-5 quarterfinal win over Marlboro in the Shore Conference Coaches Cup tournament. Leading the team was sophomore attack player Maddie Kirchner with six goals and one assist. Emma Bonfote, junior attacker, had five goals and one assist. Junior midfielder Madison Clark had two goals and sophomore defender Brooke Todd also had two goals and assisted on two.

Ocean entered the tournament as the three seed. In the opening round they defeated Donovan Catholic 15-7. So, in their first two games of Coaches Cup the Spartans have outscored their opponents 30-12. Kirchner has been having a great season as she has 77 goals so far in 2024 and 20 assists. This season, Kirchner also has 64 draw controls and scooped up 49 ground balls.

Bonforte has 30 goals this season, 11 assists, 47 ground balls and five draw controls. Clark, who missed a few games with an injury this season, has 11 goals, three assists, 62 groundballs and 29 draw controls. Todd, who is a defender, has 37 goals for the 2024 season, 19 assists, and has an incredible 122 ground balls and 89 draw controls.

Another big achievement in the victory was sophomore goalie Maggie Guzauskas getting her 10th career save. Going into the semifinals she has 101 saves in two years. The other Ocean goalkeeper is junior Christina Azimoz, who collected her 100th career save earlier this season with 125 saves going into the semifinals.

The first quarter had Ocean taking a 4-2 lead on the Mustangs. In the second, both teams added two goals to their totals. It was the second half where the Spartans dominated the game. They outscored Marlboro 5-0 in the third and 4-0 in the fourth.

Marlboro entered the tournament as the sixth seed. They defeated St. John Vianney in their opening round 7-5.

Ocean will now host Howell in the semifinals on Wednesday, May 15^th with a 6:00 p.m. start time.

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