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SOUTH BRUNSWICK: Lacrosse team’s lime green laces tied to giving
Sadly, Nicholas Colleluori is not.
But before he passed away, Colleluori started something that Jenkins wants to see through to its fulfillment, and he is employing the aid of the South Brunswick High boys lacrosse program.
Jenkins is currently an assistant coach for the Vikings. While playing for SBHS he earned Greater Middlesex Conference Player of the Year honors in 2004 before going off to play at Cabrini College.
At Cabrini, Jenkins was diagnosed with cancer but beat it back and graduated last fall. During his fight, he learned of a charity called The HEADstrong Foundation, which was started by Colleluori.
During the interim, Colleluori founded HEADstrong Foundation, which is now dedicated to his life. The foundation’s mission is to generate funds for cancer research, distribute grants and assistance to survivors of blood cancer, provide financial assistance to families that are experiencing the hardships of having a sick family member, and provide scholarships and grants for students with ambitions of entering the medical field.
As a survivor and a lacrosse player, Jenkins was obviously drawn to the foundation.
”He came up to me before the season and said he had an idea,” Viking coach Mark Ziminski said. “I thought it sounded great after he gave me the information. Pat presented it to our booster club and, lo and behold, people are donating like crazy.”
Indeed they are Jenkins’ idea was to ask the parents to purchase lime green shoelaces with the HEADstrong logo on them, for $10. The Vikings would then wear them in each game to show their support.
According to Mike Fingerhut, who heads the booster club, a family who wishes to remain anonymous donated $700 to cover the cost for all the laces, while two other families donated $100 apiece. The booster club added a $100 contribution, bringing the total to over $1,000.
Fundraising is still going on, but Jenkins is thrilled with the early response.
”When Mike told me about the initial donation from the booster club I was shocked,” Jenkins said. “I expected a moderate donation from the parents I spoke to, but not nearly as much as they came up with.
”That says a lot about our program’s parents. Because of today’s economic climate, with so many families just trying to get by, the generosity that we have seen makes me and the foundation that much more grateful.”
Jenkins finds a personal satisfaction in these philanthropic gestures, but says he’s not the only one. He points out that most people are affected by the disease, either by having it or knowing someone who is fighting it.
”To put it bluntly, if you haven’t experienced it yet, you will,” Jenkins said. “It is because of this that we need everyone’s help to fight it.
”What a lot of people don’t understand is that though the physical effects of cancer may be gone, the aftereffects are present for years. Whether that be hospital bills in particular or even something as small as the hundreds of tolls you pay going back and forth for treatments. They all add up and HEADstrong helps families in almost every aspect.”
Jenkins says when he coaches games, he gets caught up in the action, but thinks that every once in a while he’ll look at those lime green laces and feel some quiet satisfaction.
”I will no doubt be incredibly proud our players are doing something proactive to help fight this disease,” Jenkins said. “It seems so insignificant, but our hope is a person sees the laces and does some research about HEADstrong and either gives a donation or passes the message along.
”One day, when families no longer have to worry about whether or not their child will contract some form of cancer, every member of our program and the people who so generously contributed can look back and say ‘I did something about it.’”
Camps Updated
South Brunswick 19, Edison 5
HNT Boys Lacrosse - South Brunswick appears solid
"We definitely have a solid offense now and a solid D," junior goalie Alex Reinfeldt said. "We know what works and what doesn't."
South Brunswick averaged scoring four goals a game through the first three contests of the season, while letting in 11.7 But in the last 10 days the Vikings hit their stride, averaging 13.5 goals a game and holding the opposition to 6.5 goals.
"We just worked on our slides and got them down," Reinfeldt said. "Our clears were so much better."
Against East Brunswick the Vikings held a slim 3-2 lead at the half before breaking the game open in the third quarter.
In a 51-second span starting at the 10:19 mark, South Brunswick managed three faceoff wins and four goals to pull away 7-2.
"We knew that they're very good in transition," East Brunswick coach Matt Severino said. "That's when they're at their strongest and that's where the majority of their points came from in the majority of their games."
Midfielder Eric Lorber started the run off a feed from Brian Foley. Attack Cody McHugh scored two seconds later, picking up the ground ball of the faceoff.
Attack Sean Joseph scored the final two goals of the run, wrapping a pass from Carlos Romi around the post and sending an unassisted goal to the 5-hole.
"We found a good offense that works," said Joseph, who finished with three goals. "We know each player's strength and that helped our offense."
The Vikings managed to shut the Bears out in the quarter, a feat they also accomplished in the first period.
"We had good M-1 (man-to-man) defense and we slid when we were supposed to," Reinfeldt said. "We moved when we had to."
East Brunswick midfielder Ryan Starkman broke the team's scoreless streak with 8:49 left in the game to cut the lead to 7-3.
Five players scored a goal apiece to give the Vikings a 12-3 lead before East Brunswick scored the last two goals of the game.
McHugh finished with a game-high four goals and five ground balls and John Azzara tallied a goal and two assists in the win. South Brunswick held a 13-8 edge in faceoffs and midfielder John Foss tallied a game-high eight ground balls.
Attack Chris Corona led East Brunswick with two goals and an assist.
"We just had to keep it up," Joseph said. "We went down a bit at the end, we just had to keep it up."South Brunswick 16, Robbinsville 8
by THE STAR-LEDGER
Monday April 27, 2009, 9:36 PM
Senior attackman Cody McHugh registered his 100th career goal when he blasted in his sixth goal of the game with three seconds to go in the third quarter in South Brunswick. Taylor Denno scored four goals and Sean Joseph and Mike Ferrara added two each to guide South Brunswick (4-4) to its fourth victory in five games. Robbinsville (1-5) was led by Jared Icenhower with three goals and three assists.
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final Robbinsville 3 3 1 1 8 South Brunswick 4 5 6 1 16
Goals: Robbinsville Jared Icenhower 3. E.J. Schmid 2. John Demkovitz. Cody Michaels. A.J. Sanguinetti. South Brunswick Cody McHugh 6. Taylor Denno 4. Mike Ferrara 2. Sean Joseph 2. Jon Azzara. eric lober.
Assists: Robbinsville Jared Icenhower 3. E.J. Schmid 2. Jimmy Eckstein. South Brunswick Brian Foley 3. Jon Azzara. John Foss. eric lober. Cody McHugh.
Shots: Robbinsville 21. South Brunswick 42.
Saves: Robbinsville Alex Rentschler 18. South Brunswick Alex Reinfeldt 14.
Ground Balls: Robbinsville 21. Ryan Bottin 3. E.J. Schmid 3. Jimmy Eckstein 2. Joe Ferraro 2. Jared Icenhower 2. Thomas Bell. Joe Carrubba. John Demkovitz. Cody Michaels. A.J. Sanguinetti. South Brunswick 44. John Foss 9. Brian Foley 4. Sean Joseph 4. Mike Ferrara 3. Antony Geurrino 3. Cody McHugh 3. Domanic Violante 3. Steven Cirillo 2. Carlos Roman 2. Brian Stonkus 2. Jon Azzara. Josh Bagley. Christian Baros. Taylor Denno. Riley Kleber. eric lober. Mike Lopez. Alex Lorber. Ben Mulvey.
Face Offs: Robbinsville 7. South Brunswick 17.
McHugh powers South Brunswick
Senior middie Cody McHugh pumped in four goals to help keep South Brunswick's Group 4 state tournament hopes alive in Monmouth Junction. At 6-7, it needs a victory over East Brunswick Monday in the first round of the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament to qualify on the cutoff day at .500. North Brunswick (6-6) must beat Edison Monday to qualify in Group 4.
Sean Joseph scored two goals and Mike Ferrara, Eric Lorber, Matt Petersen and Brian Stonkus all connected once for South Brunswick. North Brunswick (6-6) received three goals from Mike Curran and two each from Zach Ritter and Joe Tona.
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final North Brunswick 3 0 4 1 8 South Brunswick 2 5 2 1 10
Goals: North Brunswick Mike Curran 3. Zach Ritter 2. Joe Tona 2. Josh Martin. South Brunswick Cody McHugh 4. Sean Joseph 2. Mike Ferrara. eric lober. Matt Petersen. Brian Stonkus.
Assists: North Brunswick Mike Curran. South Brunswick Justin Berger. Taylor Denno.
Shots: South Brunswick 34.
Saves: North Brunswick Mike Fisher 12. South Brunswick Alex Reinfeldt 8. Kenny Keenan 3.
Ground Balls: South Brunswick 34. John Foss 12. eric lober 5. Carlos Roman 5. Mike Ferrara 3. Sean Joseph 3. Cody McHugh 3. Brian Stonkus 2. Taylor Denno.
Face Offs: North Brunswick 6. South Brunswick 16.
East Brunswick 12, South Brunswick 10
Sam Lowen scored a career-high six goals and assisted on a seventh as fifth-seeded East Brunswick edged fourth-seeded South Brunswick in the first round of the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament in South Brunswick. The loss eliminated South Brunswick (6-8) from the NJSIAA Group 4 tournament on the final day to automatically qualify at .500 or better.
Sam Moskowitz fired in three goals and Chris Corona scored two goals and had two assists for East Brunswick (6-7). Sean Joseph scored four times and Brian Foley and Cody McHugh each connected twice for South Brunswick.
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final East Brunswick 2 2 5 3 12 South Brunswick 2 1 5 2 10
Goals: East Brunswick Sam Lowen 6. Sam Moskowitz 3. Chris Corona 2. Mike Spiotta. South Brunswick Sean Joseph 4. Brian Foley 2. Cody McHugh 2. Mike Ferrara. eric lober.
Assists: East Brunswick Chris Corona 2. Mike Spiotta 2. Ryan Dalton. Sam Lowen. Jared Lynch. South Brunswick Jon Azzara. Mike Ferrara. Brian Foley. eric lober.
Shots: East Brunswick 26. South Brunswick 34.
Saves: East Brunswick Ian Meyer 15. South Brunswick Alex Reinfeldt 17.
Ground Balls: East Brunswick 33. Josh DiDio 3. Ryan Dalton 2. Josh Meyer 2. Pete Sorrento 2. Tommy Spiotta 2. Sam Lowen. Jared Lynch. Sam Moskowitz. Mike Summerer. Matt Tocco. Jake Wojtowicz. South Brunswick 39. John Foss 14. Cody McHugh 5. Mike Ferrara 3. Brian Foley 3. eric lober 3. Jon Azzara 2. Justin Berger 2. Sean Joseph 2. Steven Cirillo. Taylor Denno. Riley Kleber.
2009 Freshman
2009 Junior Varsity
2009 Varsity
FIRST ANNUAL SENIOR NIGHT GAME
PROGRAM TRIP RUTGERS-PRINCETON 3/24
