Offense the question for New Egypt boys
BY MIKE WHITE
Staff Writer

PLUMSTED - When your offense loses nearly 200 points of scoring punch, putting the ball in the back of the cage is not going to be easy.

That is the position the New Egypt High School boys lacrosse team finds itself in as it prepares for the 2007 campaign.

Lost from last year's club, which finished with an impressive 13-5 record and a trip to the state tournament, are Shane Angus and Greg Sonday. The pair of attackmen combined for the majority of the Warriors' scoring last season. Replacing the duo is no easy task, according the coach Jay Corby.

"When that much scoring leaves a team, there is no question scoring goals is going to be a challenge," Corby said. "Last year either one of those guys could score and make things happen at the offensive end. We are going to miss having those guys around. This year's team is built a little differently."

New Egypt returns only one senior starter from last year. Travis Von Schmidt will anchor a young defense. Corby feels his team will need to limit scoring chances in order to have a successful year.

"We're not loaded with experience," Corby said. "So it is going to take our younger guys some time to adjust playing at this level. Defense is going to be a key for us. In order for us to hang around in games, we're going to have to do a real solid job of containing and stopping second shot opportunities."

Of course, Corby has a few other players who saw varsity experience last season. Juniors Lance Sutton, Tommy Carr and Shane Scherholz all saw plenty of varsity minutes and are looked to, along with Von Schmidt, to take a leadership role.

Sutton and Carr should provide some scoring. Corby is confident that he can get offensive production out of both.

"They should be able to create some nice things offensively that should lead to some goals," Corby said.

Sophomore attacker Andrew Konop and midfielder Tommy Morton, who has returned after taking a year off, should both make significant contributions, Corby said. Sophomore R.J. Healy, junior Josh Cobb and seniors Adam Haines and John Brennan are all battling for starting positions.

"I still haven't made up my mind who is going to play where in a lot of cases," Corby said. "We're going to play a lot of guys and look to find that right combination."

Freshman goalie Robbie Brown has impressed in the pre-season. Brown looked sharp in a scrimmage against Freehold Township.

"He's got a lot of skills," Corby said. "He is very young but has stepped up and played well. He is only going to get better as the season progresses."

New Egypt opens its season by hosting Summit High School April 4. Corby added Summit and a few other schools to this year's schedule to make his team better.

"We put a number of very good teams on the schedule this year," Corby said. "The opener is going to be very tough, but in the long run it's the best thing for us. You can only improve by playing better teams."

Corby has a host of newcomers looking for minutes. Seniors Kris O'Connell and Jeff Robinson and sophomores Cody Shields, twin brothers Sam and Lane Hillburn, Tim Dickert, Anthony Wahler and Alex Ramos all are vying for playing time.

"We need to stay close in games and give ourselves a chance to win at the end," Corby said. "We're not going to go out and blow teams away with the amount of scoring we do. Defense is the key for us this season."