Boys lacrosse team sets records

The 2024 season will be remembered by all involved in the Newton High School boys lacrosse program - for all the right reasons.

“Twelve wins is the most in Newton lacrosse history, with a young and inexperienced team,’’ head coach David Gallucci said. “Newton lacrosse has taken huge strides over the last three seasons. 2022 and 2023 was the first time in program history that Newton had back-to-back 10-win seasons and back-to-back winning records.

Several individual records were broken as well: Brenden Lynch scored the most points in a game (11) and Evan Parker had the most ground balls in a season (111, edging out Paulie Reinhart with 110).

“There is a lot of excitement about the future of Newton lacrosse here in town,’’ he said.

Among the most memorable games were two in the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Tournament, including a 9-7 victory over North Hunterdon on April 30, which propelled the team to the quarterfinals, Gallucci said.

“As an up-and-coming program, when we get a win over (an) established team that has won the H/W/S previously, it says something about the current state and direction of our program.’’

The Braves were defeated in the H/W/S semifinal round by the eventual champion,, Sparta.

Several leaders emerged during the season.

“Brenden Lynch, for sure, stood out on the offensive side of the ball and really took the role of helping to develop some of our younger attack men,’’ the coach said.

“Evan Parker, a great player in between the restraining lines, used his actions to lead, as younger players were able to witness his focus and work ethic.

“Yasin Tabatabaee, the only senior on the defensive side of the ball for us, was also instrumental in helping our younger defenseman develop this year.’’

Steady improvements were seen across the roster.

“The entire team improved as the season moved on,’’ Gallucci said. “We are a very young and inexperienced team. We had players thrown into positions they probably weren’t ready for due to two large senior classes graduating over the last two years, injuries, etc.

“Most notably, however, sophomore Matthew Ellsworth is a player who was moved to attack (when we lost Ty Guzzo for the season) after getting minimal playing time last year in the midfield and did a tremendous job for us, scoring 65 points (30 goals, 35 assists).

“I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a player develop so quickly at the x position, which is one of the most difficult positions to learn on the field.’’

Newton posted an overall record of 12-8 with a mark of 4-3 in the challenging Pooley Division.

The team lost in the first round of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) North Jersey, Group 1 tournament to Pequannock, 13-3.

Gallucci is optimistic about the program’s future.

“We return almost our entire team and look to bring back a healthy Ty Guzzo, one of our best scorers, who was unfortunately missed the season due to injury. We are also welcoming an extremely talented eighth-grade class to Newton High School next year.’’