A driver and a 3-wood, some golden, crispy fries, the Jersey Shore’s sand and surf and glowing heads of hair all combined for the greatest boys lacrosse season in Robbinsville High history.
In setting a school record for victories with a 15-6 mark, the Ravens reached the NJSIAA South Jersey Group II semifinals for the first time in program history, gained a berth in the Mercer County/Colonial Valley Conference Tournament semifinals for the second time and won the CVC Valley Division title.
“All the things on the field started off the field,” coach John Demkovitz said. “It really led us to where we wanted to be. It all started in the winter in the weight room, hanging out, building that chemistry.”
It began to peak in mid-May, when the allure of a Big Mac helped the Ravens to an 8-7 victory over Allentown in the CVC Tournament semifinals.
“I promised the boys earlier in the season that if we made it to the finals for the first time in 10 years, the bus would stop at McDonald’s on the way home; it’s tradition,” Demkovitz said. “On our Instagram page that’s our biggest hit, over 15,000 views of the boys standing under the golden arches.
“It’s honestly something we were hunting for. We said it at practice the day before the game, that ‘Hey if we want McDonald’s we’ve gotta win.” And we did, and we took the bus to McDonald’s and that’s a moment they’ll never forget.”
It was one of several big moments. The team also bonded with trips down to Belmar and a journey to the driving range, although when asked how they hit them, Demkovitz quipped, “it was questionable.”
The players also decided to dye their hair bleach blond and called their coach on it, as Demkovitz said he would do the same if they went through with it. They did, so he did, and it continued to bring the team closer.
“Our family attitude and culture really came together starting with that CVC Tournament and going to the states,” Demkovitz said. “It’s moments they’ll remember forever. It’s cool seeing the kids all over Robbinsville with their dyed hair.”
The CVCT semifinals matched two evenly matched teams, and after Robbinsville went up by three goals, Allentown tied it at 6-6 before the Ravens tallied two and held off the Redbirds for an 8-7 victory. It marked the second one-goal win over their neighboring school, the first coming over spring break without three starters.
“Allentown had one of the best faceoff kids in New Jersey (Brian McCaffery) and we followed him everywhere and made sure we knew where we was at all times,” Demkovitz said. “Alex Giordano ran out the last minute and 40 of the game by himself and when it ended he was exhausted. That’s the attitude this team had, we were gonna push and push and push.
“Our motto throughout the year was ‘It isn’t pretty but it’s gritty.’’ That described the team perfectly. At times we got very sloppy but every coach said ‘Your kids gave it their absolute all in every second of every play’ It felt like we were surrounding people because we were always running all around the field. And it showed.”
Robbinsville surrendered a lead in the final to Notre Dame in losing 16-11, but just getting to that point provided a spark for the state tournament.
The Ravens topped Nottingham in the first round and then, for the first time, won a quarterfinal match with a 14-4 victory over Seneca.
“We’d never made it to the sectional semifinals and for us to get that far was always the goal,” Demkovitz said. “We’ve always struggled in the post-season and I think of lot of it was because we spent a lot of attention going after the CVC title.
“But this year, finally making it to the finals of the CVC tournament kept the bonds and energy strong with the team.”
They fell to Manasquan in the semifinals in a game more one-sided than when the teams met in the season opener.
“We scheduled them off the jump to see where we stacked up,” Demkovitz said. “That first game gave us energy and confidence. We saw the name on the jersey and they smacked us around early but we bounced back (before losing 10-3).
“Unfortunately when we ran into Manasquan again they were a different team. It made it tough. We gave it our all but they played better than we did. We jumped out to a lead but the second quarter wasn’t our quarter just like it wasn’t against Notre Dame.”
Robbinsville faced adversity before the season started when senior midfielder Anthony Inverso suffered a wrestling injury that kept him out for the entire lacrosse season.
“Missing him was a big piece,” Demkovitz said.
But during spring break, with three starters out, the Ravens defeated Montgomery, Princeton and Allentown, and the coach said, “At that point we finally knew we had something and since then it was ‘How do we get it done?’”
Leading the way was senior midfielder Liam Butler, who is headed for Division III dynasty Salisbury State this fall. Butler had 55 goals and 31 assists and finished with 155 goals and 67 assists.
Butler received Division I interest, but joining a program like Salisbury will provide a Division I atmosphere.
“His stature and his play — even at a school like that — if he’s 100 percent, I don’t see why not he’s not starting,” Demkovitz said. “He played attack his sophomore year as a way to have him on the field. In the last two years he’s been strictly midfield for us. At times we’d throw him down at attack to put him in an opportunity where if we had a chance to get a fast break he could let loose. He brings one of the fastest shots I’ve seen.
“We needed (the attack) to end with him. We would tell him ‘Let the other guys get going, let the offense move, let the other guys shake out, you’ll know when to strike when the defender can’t come to you right away. Once he realized that he didn’t have to start everything it really started to click for him.”
At 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds, Butler was part of a big midfield that included 5-foot-10, 180-pound Giordano, who had 45 goals and 24 assists, and 6-foot-3 sophomore Travis Sikorski, who had 25 goals and 26 assists.
“We challenged our midfielders to step up at all ends of the field, not just offense or defense,” Demkovitz said. “They had to be able to play both.”
The coach had praise for his entire senior class, no matter what their role.
“We asked Rayaan Saikia to play close defense instead of short stick, he stepped up and played great,” Demkovitz said. “Riley Mastromarino is going to Kean; he had the toughest match-up every game and did great. Lim Butler had everyone looking at him and learned how to facilitate. Giordano never stopped moving and was always solid out there.
“Kyle Strand (10, 9) had a goal almost every game, he was consistent. Nolan Embley (44, 26) is the quiet killer, you don’t see it coming but all of a sudden you look at the stat book and he’s got three or four.”
Then there was defender Jack Holub, who was thrust into a starting role during spring break.
“He stepped up, did the best he could and when things happened late in the season we had to slide him in and he knew his role and he did excellent,” Demkovitz said. “Everyone did an awesome job.”
Senior Dan Savoca was outstanding in goal and became the program’s first Academic All-American.
There were also the ultimate team players, who contributed in other ways.
“Drew Damasiewicz and Jackson Furyk didn’t play much but their positivity and practice work ethic; showing up every day and not complaining about playing time was huge,” Demkovitz said. “There’s nobody bringing us down out of that senior class.”
“In high school sports if you have a big senior class it changes things. The maturity on the field is big. You can see it in the decision making and stuff like that.”
Along with Sikorski, other underclassmen emerged, such as consistent sophomore Ryan Horan, who had 30 goals and 27 assists; juniors Jack Alexander, who had 34 goals and 25 assists and “was our key lefty”; Max Guzicki, who had 193 ground balls and 303 draw controls; Joe Thomson, who had 33 ground balls; AJ Hanuscin, who had 13 points and 26 ground balls; Jackson Balling, who had 39 ground balls; and Drew Schwartz, who had 28 ground balls; sophomore John Dzwolak, who had 38 ground balls; and freshman Jessy Kaber, who had 21 goals and 19 assists and “had a great year at man-up.”
“Everyone stepped up and had a role,” Demkovitz said. “It was really cool to see. And I think the biggest thing was that family camaraderie.”
Camaraderie that led to everything from body surfing to neon heads.
