LVRHS lacrosse: Year in review

By Josh Lashley
STANHOPE — A commitment to achieving their goals with pride, effort and a constantly determined approach led to a milestone season for the Lenape Valley High School boy’s lacrosse program in 2018.
The Patriots had a solid overall record of 14-8 and head coach Justin Meeth noted that for the first time in team history they won the NJILL Pooley Division championship (7-1 record). Jefferson, the co-champion, also had a 7-1 Pooley Division record.
“The first game that was big for us was our first game against Delaware Valley early in the season,’’ Meeth said. “Although we did lose this game, it was a game that we battled and kept it within a few goals right up until the closing moments of the fourth quarter. Delaware Valley is a good team and this was a game that showed us we can play with better teams and that we would do some really great things this season.
“The others that standout were all three games we played against Hackettstown. Each game was decided by one goal and really were just back and forth dog fights all game every game. Each game we played them in were big games and the fact that these boys responded with three one-goal wins and found a way to get it done spoke volumes about what type of team we were all year long.’’
Lenape Valley advanced to the semifinal round of the NJSIAA North Group 1 Sectional Tournament before a loss to eventual Sectional and State Group 1 champion Mountain Lakes. The Patriots defeated Boonton and Hackettstown in the Sectional Tournament.
“Of course the three captains in Jack Varian, Troy DuPont and Dominick Falleni were the core of our leadership but two of our other seniors really stepped it up,’’ Meeth said. “Trevor Quasius and Andrew Dalessandro, these two guys wanted nothing but the best from their teammates and when the team wasn’t responding to each other or to a coaches request, they were the first two to speak up.’’
“The first guy to surprise me with his improvement was freshmen Gavin Coles. Gavin was tasked with being a d-mid which is not an easy job, especially for a freshman. But Gavin not only got better each day, but he wanted to get better. If something went wrong on the field and he knew it was on him, he came off the field and went to one of us coaches to get feedback on what happened and how he can fix it. He’s as coachable as they come and I couldn’t have been more impressed with his progression this season.’’
The Patriots have the factors in their favor to be a team to be reckoned with in 2019.
“Well the biggest outlook for next year is that we pretty much return everybody that was a part of this team this year,’’ Meeth said. “This will be a more experienced team next year and with how many freshmen had major roles for us this season it is more than encouraging for what next season holds.’’