Shore suffered a stinging 13-9 loss to the Hornets of Holmdel

By Walter J. O’Neill, Jr.

This past Wednesday, the Blue Devils of Shore Regional hosted the Hornets of Holmdel in a Shore Conference boys lacrosse American division game. Shore started off with a bang, but the Hornets swarmed the Blue Devils goal and won 13-9.

Scoring three goals and assisting on two for Shore Regional was Reid Spallone (9) during the game against Holmdel.

There are nine teams in the American division, which has CBA on top followed by Southern, Holmdel is in third followed by Rumson-Fair Haven, Shore Regional, Red Bank Regional, Wall Township, Manasquan and Toms River East.

Gregg Malfa, head coach of the Blue Devils, stated that this season the American division is loaded with talented teams, and it will be a challenging year for his squad. Last season, Shore finished 12-6 overall and were 5-2 in the American division.

The first quarter against Holmdel had the Hornets up 4-3. The second quarter had the lowest amount of goals for the Blue Devils as the Hornets outscored them 3-1 and took a 7-4 lead into the halftime break. The start of the second half was identical to the first quarter; 4-3 Holmdel. The final quarter of regulation had both teams adding two goals to their totals.

With the 13-9 victory, Holmdel improved to 6-2 overall and are 3-1 in the division. They were led by Finnegan Buchan, senior attacker, who scored four goals and scooped up one ground ball. David Perotti, a junior attacker, had three goals and two ground balls. Getting two goals each were Marcus Cermele and James Esposito. Cermele, a senior, also assisted on a goal and had five ground balls. Rounding out the Holmdel scoring was Jack Cannon, senior, with a goal and four assists, two ground balls, and Joey Marino, junior, with a single goal, two assists and one ground ball. Jack Tiller, senior, was in the goal for the Hornets making seven saves in the win.

In five games this season, Shore Regional is now 3-2 overall and 2-2 in division action. In the loss to the Hornets, two Blue Devil players scored three goals each. Reid Spallone, senior, had three goals, two assists and four ground balls. Oliver Matthews, sophomore, had three goals and one assist. Jack Madalone, senior, had two goals and two ground balls, while Finn Watson, senior, had one goal and two ground balls. In the goal for the Blue Devils was Joey Longo, junior, who made five saves.

Up next for Holmdel are the division leading Colts of Christian Brothers Academy on April 18, with a 10:00 a.m. start.

Shore Regional will be taking on a non-conference opponent, Eastern, which plays in the Olympic Conference and are currently 2-4 overall. This game will be played at Shore Regional on April 18, with a 10:00 a.m. start.

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