Point Boro Edges Holmdel as Scalabrini and Schwertheim Reach Milestones

HOLMDEL — When Liz Kolb became the head coach of Point Boro four years ago, she was joined by a talented trio of freshmen. Lily Scalabrini, Sloane Schwertheim, and Francesca Skowronski quickly flashed potential on the varsity field. That potential did not immediately translate into wins, but the young core gradually improved each year. Now seniors, the trio has guided the Panthers to a 6-2 start and has the team looking like a legitimate dark horse contender that can do some damage in the Shore Conference Tournament and state playoffs. Point Boro’s talent was on full display on Monday as they picked up a hard-fought 9-8 victory against a tough Holmdel team that took two ranked teams down to the wire earlier in the season.

​The Panthers started fast, racing out to a three-goal lead in the first quarter off the strength of two goals by junior midfielder Lucy Hauser and one by senior attacker Scalabrini. Holmdel battled back in the final 90 seconds of the first quarter when freshman Emily Minnick tallied her first career goal and sophomore midfielder Ryann Buchann scored her 30th goal of the season.

​The Panthers quickly responded when Scalabrini opened the scoring in the second quarter with her second goal. The Hornets kept fighting and tied the score with back-to-back goals from senior attacker Avery Dubin and junior midfielder Sunny Betz. The Panthers again responded. Junior attacker Aubrey Gilbert cut through the defense and ripped one past the goalie to put Point Boro back in front. 44 seconds later, Betz responded for the Hornets with a nice cut in front of the net, which led to a goal. In response, Scalabrini completed a first-half hat trick by scoring her 100th career goal. Holmdel nearly knotted the game up again, but they were denied by the goalie, Schwertheim, who recorded her 400th career save in the process to give the Panthers a 6-5 lead at the half.

​The rest of the game followed a similar script of back-and-forth action. Betz started the scoring in the third quarter for the Hornets when she broke free and potted another goal to tie the game. Point Boro once again responded, this time with a different Scalabrini; sophomore attacker Juliana Scalabrini, Lily’s cousin, scored to put the Panthers back in front. Hauser then put the Panthers back up by two when she bounced one past the goalie, and even though Holmdel kept fighting back, Point Boro had an answer every single time. Holmdel got it back to a one-goal deficit twice when Dubin netted her 100th career point on her second goal of the game and when Sunny Betz completed a hat trick, but the Panthers responded with sound defense, coupled with some terrific saves by Schwertheim.

“My seniors this year were freshmen when I joined, so they are extra special to me,” said Point Boro head coach Liz Kolb.

​Scalabrini, who now has 23 goals this season and is on pace to crush last year’s total of 33, displayed a level of speed and quickness that was difficult for her opponents to keep up with. The senior will play for Rowan University next year.

“Lily picked up lacrosse in high school, and now she is finally starting to peak,” said Coach Kolb. “She can be such a force down there”.

Skowronski, a Wagner commit, did not score any goals, but she had a tremendous impact on the game with her field vision and passing, totaling a game-high three assists.

​Schwertheim is possibly the most unlikely impact player of the bunch. She had never played goalie before getting to Point Boro, and now she has 400 career saves, including 10 against Holmdel, and will play at Kean University next year.

“Sloane’s story is incredible,” said Coach Kolb. “We needed a goalie, and she stepped up.”

Now ranked eighth in the Shore Sports Insider Top 10, the Panthers host No. 10 Manalapan in a critical Colonial Division game on Thursday. Whether this group of seniors can lead their team to the quarterfinals of the Shore Conference Tournament and their first state playoff win since 2018 remains to be seen, but whatever the final outcome is, this senior class will have left the program in a better spot than they found it.

Holmdel, which has only lost by a combined four goals in its three losses, will travel to Toms River South on Thursday.