SPORTS

Girls Lacrosse: Mehalick, Altman pace North Brunswick

Lauren Knego

@laurenknego

NORTH BRUNSWICK - The North Brunswick High School girls lacrosse team has lofty expectations of how this season is supposed to go. So far, the Raiders are moving in the right direction.

North Brunswick improved to 2-0 on Tuesday afternoon after defeating rival South Brunswick (2-1) in dominating fashion, 18-4. Senior midfielder Samantha Mehalick led the charge for the Raiders with eight goals and one assist, and recorded her 400th career point in the process.

"We know they always come out really strong and ready to play and the energy is always very up there, we were ready I think," Mehalick said. "We knew this was our home opener against our rivals, so we also had that energy and we were ready and the score showed it."

The Raiders jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead on a goal from junior midfielder Tori Tucci just 37 seconds into the game. Just 16 seconds later South Brunswick sophomore midfielder Shannen Sterner scored on an assist from senior attack Caroline Hvozdovic to the game 1-1, but from there North Brunswick went on a tear, scoring 12 unanswered goals for a 12-1 lead at halftime.

"Defense is something that we knew we had to come into the season and work really hard on because we lost some defenders and that was going to be our weak side of the game," Mehalick said. "I think through scrimmages and practices, working on it constantly, over and over and getting the little tiny things worked out, I think we really showed improvement on defense in today's game."

Mehalick did most of her damage in the first half, scoring seven goals. She also won 16-of-23 draw controls. Senior midfielder Tatum Altman added seven goals and two assists, with four goals coming in the first half. Tucci finished with a hat trick and four assists, while goalie Natalie Chapman made nine saves.

In the second half the Vikings started to click offensively as junior midfielder Amanda Palumbo, Hvozdovic and Sterner all scored.

"I think we improved dramatically in the second half," South Brunswick coach Sean Edwards said. "They had a lot of open cutters early on, we made adjustments at halftime, we discussed who we're going to have, more communication and we definitely picked it up more in the second half, so it's something to keep working on."

The Raiders have scored 18 goals in both of their victories this year, having defeated St. John Vianney 18-13 on opening day. The team hopes to keep rolling in order to advance back to the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament final, which it lost to Old Bridge last year. North Brunswick will meet the Knights in a rematch of the final on April 28.

"I think this year will definitely be our best year coming up," Altman said. "Last year we lost in the GMCs so we're definitely going to get that back this year, there's no doubt in my mind."

For the Vikings, Tuesday's loss will be looked at as a tough lesson as the team will try and learn from their mistakes and rebound accordingly. South Brunswick entered the game with wins over Monroe and South Plainfield and it will look to bounce back with wins over Edison and West Windsor-Plainsboro South before meeting Monroe for the second time this season on April 12.

"We've been playing North Brunswick for years now and the rest of this GMC Conference has caught up and it's extremely competitive, so we knew from last year into this year that North Brunswick is going to be tough competition so we've just been preparing for that," Edwards said. "I think we're doing great, obviously the goal is to be back here at North Brunswick for the championship, that's what we're trying to compete with."

Staff Writer Lauren Knego: lknego@gannettnj.com; Follow me on Twitter: @laurenknego