Kunz’s 8-point game fuels Manasquan’s rally past Glen Ridge in Kirst Cup quarterfinals

UNION — In the first half of the Kirst Cup quarterfinal versus Glen Ridge, Manasquan barely resembled the team that claimed the NJSIAA Group 2 boys lacrosse state championship three days ago.

The Warriors made uncharacteristic mistakes at both ends of the field and found themselves in an early hole against a red-hot Ridgers team playing with their confidence at an all-time high. The Warriors came out flat, and they knew it. If they wanted their season to continue, they needed to flip the switch.

“We’re a team that usually comes out with fire but we came out slow,” senior attackman Brandon Kunz said. “At halftime our coaches and captains gave great speeches. This could have been our last game, and we didn’t want that. We got everybody fired up, and it showed in the third quarter.”

Trailing by three at the half, Manasquan turned the tide over the final 24 minutes with a seven-goal surge in the third quarter en route to a 15-10 comeback win over Glen Ridge on Monday at Kean University’s Alumni Stadium.

Kunz and junior midfielder Lucas Longo scored early in the third quarter to pull the Warriors within a goal, but Glen Ridge’s Brad Foster scored his fourth of the game to put the Ridgers back up by two. From there, Manasquan took complete control with eight straight goals spanning the third and fourth quarters. The Warriors closed the game on an 11-3 run in the second half to continue the best season in program history.

“At halftime we talked it over and said, ‘guys, we’re not losing this game, we’re not going home’,” Matt Schneider said. “We started winning the face-offs, started finishing, and the defense started making big stops.”

“We made a few adjustments at halftime. We have a great coaching staff and everybody has input,” said Manasquan head coach John Naslonski, who earned his 150th career coaching victory. “We took those little inputs and turned them into a big change, and it turned out well.”

Kunz, a Lehigh signee and USA Lacrosse All-American selection this season, recorded a game-high eight points with five goals and three assists to eclipse the 60-goal mark this season. Senior midfielder Matt Schneider registered two goals and three assists, senior attackman Ryan Aldi tallied two goals and two assists, junior midfielder Lucas Longo notched two goals and one assist, and senior midfielder Kai Donahue scored twice. Junior midfielder Jack O’Reilly and junior FOGO Will Conway each scored once.

With little margin for error entering the second half, Manasquan’s defense and senior goalie Pat Loxley came through with clutch stops to help facilitate the rally. Loxley finished with 13 saves while senior defenseman Parker Harms and senior LSM James Cadott forced turnovers and pushed transition. After a tough first quarter, the FOGO tandem of Conway and senior Luke Herbert caught fire and supplied Manasquan’s surging offense with possession after possession.

It all added up to Manasquan’s 20th win of the season and another historic first for the program. The Warriors advance to play top-seeded Seton Hall Prep in the Kirst Cup semifinals at 7 p.m. on Tuesday back at Kean University.

Manasquan started fast when Donahue scored 47 seconds into the game. Glen Ridge tied it less than a minute later on a goal by senior attackman Connor Sutton, then added goals by junior midfielder Jimmy Benson and Foster — the latter coming with just 15 seconds on the clock — to take a 3-1 lead after the first quarter.

Foster scored his second of the game just over a minute into the second quarter to put Glen Ridge up 4-1. Manasquan was out of sorts and making unforced errors that short-circuited its own possessions and gave Glen Ridge extra chances at the other end. Still, the Warriors were only down three and quickly cut their deficit to a goal when O’Reilly and Aldi scored 65 seconds apart. But the Ridgers responded with three straight goals by Foster, junior attackman Carson Ross and junior attackman Stephan Grober to open their largest lead of the game at 7-3.

The game was in danger of getting away from Manasquan. Instead, the Warriors received a goal from Aldi off a setup from Kieran Schneider with nine seconds left in the half. It was the spark that ignited the comeback.

“Definitely, it was huge,” Matt Schneider said. “We knew we could keep scoring and get back in this game.”

“The first half we had some unlucky breaks, we had the yips a little and we played tight,” Naslonski said. “But then we loosened up and played our game. (Glen Ridge) was in a zone, and with a shot clock you can’t wait to figure out a zone. We told them to attack the seams, draw the double team and move the ball. They did, and a lot of things opened up.”

Kunz scored 58 seconds into the third quarter and Longo struck for his first goal at 10:22 to bring the Warriors within one. Foster scored for an 8-6 Glen Ridge lead, but that was the last time the Ridgers would put one past Loxley for the next 15 minutes of game time. Kunz scored off the left side to make it 8-7, then, just 32 seconds later, scored again after drawing a penalty to tie the game 8-8. With three minutes on the clock, Manasquan took advantage of a Glen Ridge miscue to spin it the other way for a quick transition goal by Kunz for a 9-8 lead. Conway then won the ensuing face-off and raced toward the cage for a goal and a 10-8 lead. Schneider scored with a backhand shot at 2:09 and Longo sank his second of the day with 23 seconds left to complete a 7-1 third quarter and give Manasquan a 12-8 lead.

Kunz had a pair of assists in the first half, but when he scored early in the third quarter it was the start of Manasquan’s offense returning to its usual form. The Warriors have several talented scorers, and when Kunz gets hot, the rest of the offense seems to follow.

“He’s a unique player and that’s why he’s an All-American,” Naslonski said. “He leads on the field and is a very humble. A truly great player.”

“My coaches trust me to be a leader and that’s what my main goal is,” Kunz said. “It’s not to score however many goals, it’s to lead these guys so our team can win. Our defense stepped up and played huge, Patch made great saves, and the biggest factor was Will and Luke Herbert at the face-off and our wing guys getting to every ground ball.”

The Warriors finished the third quarter with six straight goals and then added two more to open a 14-8 lead. Schneider hit another backhand shot off an assist from Aldi at 9:54. With 5:30 left, Harms intercepted a pass toward the crease and turned it upfield to Donahue, who played give-and-go with Kunz in transition before ripping a lefty shot past Glen Ridge goalie Keiller Goodwin.

Glen Ridge finally broke Manasquan’s stride with two goals in nine seconds to cut the Warriors’ lead to 14-10, but Conway won the next face-off and Manasquan was able to chew clock until calling a timeout with 1:15 to play. Off the restart, Kunz scored with a surprise shot from the restraining line for a 15-10 lead that capped the scoring.

Manasquan won its first state title on Friday and backed it up with its first Kirst Cup/Tournament of Champions win on Monday. It’s a major milestone for the program, and one that means even more to Naslonski. Monday was the 10th anniversary of the passing of Kyle Kirst, the namesake of the tournament who played goalie at Rutgers from 1988 to 1990 and was a longtime assistant at Summit.

“I do want to say this is bigger than a lacrosse game today,” Naslonski said.  “The Kirst Cup is honoring Kyle, a friend of mine, a fellow Rutgers guy, and on the 10th anniversary of his death. I’m just honored to be here representing him.”

Manasquan will face its biggest challenge of the season Tuesday night when it faces the No. 1 team in the state. Seton Hall Prep won the Non-Public A title with a 12-6 win over Don Bosco Prep.

“This is big for us,” Kunz said. “I’m so proud of these guys for what we’ve accomplished, but we’re not done yet. We’re going to come out tomorrow with fire and see what we can do.”

“The only ones who believe in us are us,” Naslonski said. “We’re going to go out there and give it our best shot. We have a true group of warriors, and I’m so proud of them.”