Dragons LAX Split Pair On The Week, Remain at .500

Defeating the Marlboro Mustangs on Monday afternoon was a step in the right direction for the Brick Dragons boy varsity lacrosse team.

Coming off a tough loss over the weekend at Colts Neck, the Dragons' attack stepped up and tallied nine goals in their 9-6 win.

Thursday night, however, Brick fell to one of the toughest in the Shore, Jackson Memorial, 14-1.

Despite the score, the Dragons displayed flashes of high quality play. However, over the course of the game they could not keep up with the highly-talented Jaguars.

"We've been dealing with a few injuries, some of our JV squad is playing up," said Dragons head coach Dan Rosa. "Not only were we undermanned, we were going up against a tough team."

Impressing again, was John Kirk III. Kirk stopped 15 of the 29 shots he faced, including six of ten in the first quarter.

"One of the things I have been talking about with John is, becoming active as a defender as well as a goaltender. He did some things that might not show up on the stat sheet, but really helped out tonight," said Rosa.

Until three minutes remained in the first quarter, the score was 1-0 in favor of the Jaguars. Kirk, along with the tough defense provided by Just Sieburt and Brian Murphy, is what kept the Dragons close, who were yet to register a shot on goal.

Three quick goals would make the score 4-0 after the first. An open man in the alley and a cutter highlighted the goals for Jackson.

The Dragons lone goal came with seven minutes to play in the second and appeared to rally the team as Brick kept the Jags off the scoreboard for the rest of the period.

On the goal, defensemen Mike Nezgoda carried the ball the length of the field, before hitting Patrick Barrow with a pass who looked to score a hockey-like goal, hitting the ball in off the ground.

Following the goal, Murphy drew a man-up after carrying the ball all the way down the sideline. 

With few offensive highlights for Brick, Sieburt and Gage Slyman led the way for the Dragons with bone crushing hits. Sieburt separated a Jaguar from the ball with a hit in the middle of the field in the third quarter.

Gage Slyman carried the ball offensively up field for the Dragons late in the contest. Instead of running around, Slyman ran through three Jaguars on his way to the net.

"They played hard for the entire game, the effort was there," said Rosa, who was later asked about how the future of his team shapes up.

"It's always bright for us, we only have one senior starter, the kids are gaining tons of experience," he said.

Saturday, Brick will take on another Jackson high school. This time it will be the Jackson Liberty Lions, at home, at 10:00 a.m.