Boys Lacrosse: O’Brien dominates the X, Villa nets 6 to lead Shore past Toms River East in SCT quarterfinals

WEST LONG BRANCH — For as good a season Shore Regional’s boys lacrosse team has enjoyed this spring, the Blue Devils have still been searching for a game in which they put it all together.

No better time than during the Shore Conference Tournament.

Shore was nearly perfect on Thursday afternoon when it rode the face-off dominance of senior Brendan O’Brien to score early and often on its way to an emphatic 17-4 victory over Toms River East in the SCT quarterfinals at Feeney Field.

O’Brien went 23-for-24 at the X with 15 ground balls to give Shore a massive possession advantage, and the Blue Devils (11-3) made them count by opening a 6-1 lead after the first quarter and ballooning their advantage to 13-1 at halftime. Senior midfielder Lukas Villa scored a career-high six goals and added one assist, while senior midfielder Tucker Malfa and junior midfielder Jack Madalone recorded a hat trick and two assists each to spearhead a balanced scoring effort.

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“I think a lot of it was our practices this week,” Villa said. “We came out fired up and ready to play.”

“This is as close as it’s been to putting it all together,” Shore head coach Gregg Malfa said. “We had six players with multiple points, so we were spreading the ball around, and Villa had the kind of game he’s been waiting for. (Toms River East) is a good team and 17-4 is probably not indicative of the type of team they are. We just started to put it all together today, and I’m hoping we carry that over to the next game.”

Shore will face top-seeded Rumson-Fair Haven in the quarterfinals at RFH’s Borden Stadium on Saturday at noon. It will be Shore’s first SCT semifinal appearance since 2019.

Toms River East entered with an 11-2 record and was looking to reach its first SCT semifinal. The Raiders have secured at least a share of the Colonial Division championship and are in the midst of the best season in program history. Their two losses prior to Thursday were to Southern Regional and undefeated Kingsway. The matchup with Shore was the most anticipated of the four quarterfinal games. Instead, Shore made certain there would be no upset by severely limiting the Raiders’ opportunities. By the time East had its first offensive possession it was already down 3-0.

“With Brendan at the X it’s a make-it, take-it mentality,” Villa said. “You put one in the back of the net and you turn around and he’s already heading the other way. He’s so consistently great at what he does that it makes it easier for us and takes a lot of pressure off.”

“I think he rises to the challenge and he holds himself to a higher standard,” Malfa said. “The only game he really struggled was against Holmdel and their guy (Jack Powers) is really good, but Brendan thought he could do better. Since then, he’s taken it up a notch. For us, when you have a guy like that you’re thinking make it, take it. You score and go right back to the face-off dot and you’re pretty sure he’s going to give you another possession.”

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Shore has had fast starts in previous games this season, but struggled to put teams away. That was another encouraging sign Thursday as they scored seven straight goals in the second quarter to reach the running clock threshold of a 12-goal lead. After recording a hat trick in the first quarter, Villa scored twice in the second quarter, first off an assist from senior attackman Braden Miller and later off a setup from Malfa, who also scored twice in the second quarter. Madalone, junior midfielder John Mazzacco and junior attackman Reid Spallone also scored during the second quarter.

Mazzacco finished with two goals and one assist. Miller and Spallone had a goal and three assists each and junior Henry Azzolini scored once. Sophomore goalie Joey Longo wasn’t tested often, but made key saves to keep momentum and finished with seven stops.

“We’ve kind of struggled this year with putting teams away and putting the pedal to the metal,” Villa said. “This game, we showed that we can stomp a team out when we have a winning mentality.”

“We have harped on that all year long about us allowing teams to stay in the game and not taking away their hope,” Malfa said. “As you get deeper and deeper into tournament play, good teams will find a way to beat you if you let them hang around. That’s what we impressed upon them today.”

Toms River East scored the only two goals of the third quarter on tallies by senior midfielder Nate Cummings and sophomore attackman Gerard Uzzolino, and then cut its deficit to 13-4 when junior attackman Nicholas Caruso scored his second of the game at 9:06 of the fourth quarter. It was merely a speed bump for Shore, which used goals from Mazzacco, Madalone, Villa and Azzolini in the final seven minutes to put the finishing touches on a dominant victory.

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Now the Blue Devils will try to take the next step and reach the Shore Conference Tournament championship game for the first time in program history. In their way is a familiar nemesis in the form of top-seeded Rumson-Fair Haven, which defeated Holmdel, 15-6, in the quarterfinals. On April 16, Shore beat Rumson, 10-8, for their first win over the Bulldogs in program history. The question now is whether they can do it again.

“I trust everyone out here on this team to hold their ground and do their job,” Villa said. “We wouldn’t be out here if we didn’t think we could win the whole thing.”

“A lot of teams are starting to play their best lacrosse now and we’re trending that way,” Malfa said. “If we can keep doing it – and I think we can get better in some spots – that will be what carries us forward. At tournament time, everybody is going to give you their best shot, so we have to play our best.”